Page 32 - 201007 - The 'X' Chronicles Newspaper - July 2010

July 2010_june_july_2009.qxd 31/07/2010 10:53 AM Page 32 32 Exoplanet bonanza fuels excitement Exoplanet bonanza fuels excitement Darren Osborne - ABC Are we alone in the Universe? It's a question many of us have asked at some point in our lives, and for centuries the question has remained unanswered. But a recent talk by a leading US researcher has fuelled speculation that astronomers have discovered a substantial number of Earth-sized planets - some of which could harbour life. The results come from NASA's Kepler telescope, launched in March 2009, which is the latest addition to the exoplanet-seeking armada. size, before the use of the telescope. A second telescopes helping us see them from afar. The Within several weeks of its survey showed the state of play in 1995. Both showed 24.5-metre Giant Magellan Telescope and the mission beginning, there have been rumours that there are more small planets than large 42-metre diameter Extremely Large Telescope, that the telescope has seen hundreds, if not ones, which is what you expect from the which are currently on the drawing board, are thousands of planets - some as small as Earth. 'Copernican model'. unlikely to see these faraway planets in any This is a significant finding. The next chart, titled June 2010, showed detail. But, the announcement is being held the distribution skewed towards the gas giants. So it seems in the short-term the back by NASA as it allows its scientists to have Of the 400-plus exoplanets detected, most are question will remain unanswered and we'll their standard period of 'exclusive access' to the Jupiter-sized continue living 'alone' in the universe. data. But what came next in Sasselov's All indications are that we will hear presentation confirmed the rumours Top 10 NASA Flubs something in February next year. surrounding Kepler's data. The chart showed 1160 planets, most in Alien search the 'like-Earth' and 'like-Neptune' category. 1 - ‘KAPUTNIK’ With such a large sample size, it now the On Dec. 6, 1957, two months after the Soviets The search for aliens and Earth-like Copernican model is correct and that smaller launched the first artificial satellite into orbit, worlds isn't new. planets are more likely to occur throughout the the U.S. tried to launch its own. The space race In the early 1900s, astronomers such as universe than gas giants. This means the was on, and everyone was watching. Percival Lowell were convinced they saw signs potential for life is better than what we may Unfortunately for democracy, whereas the of alien life on the planet Mars. Their have thought as little as six months ago. U.S.S.R. had Sputnik, the U.S. had "Kaputnik" discoveries fuelled the imagination of science "The statistical result is loud and clear (a.k.a. "Flopnik" or "Dudnik"). The rocket fiction writers, including H G Wells, who … planets like our own Earth are out there. The carrying the Vanguard TV3 satellite only made penned the classic War of the Worlds. Their galaxy is rich in these kinds of planets," says it about four feet off its Cape Canaveral pad claims were later found to be false. Sasselov. before losing thrust and exploding in By the 1970s, the search had shifted humiliating fashion. The press had a lot to say away from 'little green men' to microscopic Long way to go about the dismal failure. As the New York organisms. Numerous robotic missions have Herald Tribune summed up, "The people in been sent to the Moon, Venus, Mars and the Before we get too carried away, it's Washington should damn well keep quiet until outer planets - none of them have found any worth noting that the only thing we know is that they have a grapefruit or at least something evidence of alien life. these planets are Earth-like in size. This doesn't orbiting around up there." The following year, More recently, the focus has been mean they're covered in water, have an the U.S. finally launched its first satellite — and extended to beyond our solar system. atmosphere or harbour life. All we know is that created NASA. In 1995, the discovery of the first they're about the same size. 'exoplanet', 51 Pegasi b, opened the door to a The next step now is for astronomers to 2 - The Ranger Missions new source of alien hotspots. zoom in on these Earth-sized planets and Trial and error was the name of the game for Slowly, but surely, the number of determine if they have Earth-like conditions. these unmanned 1960s space missions, intended exoplanets found by astronomers has increased "We can study them now, we know to provide NASA with the first close-up images in number. But most of these have been gas where they are," says Sasselov. "We can find of the moon's surface. Early on it was mostly giants; planets similar in composition to Jupiter those that we would call habitable, meaning that errors. Each spacecraft was stocked with six and unlikely to harbour conditions suitable for they have conditions similar to the conditions cameras designed to transmit photos until the life. we have experience here on Earth." Ranger collided with the lunar surface. Things In late 2006, the European Space Sasselov goes on to suggest that if we didn't exactly go as planned. Ranger 1 — sent Agency launched COROT, a space telescope extrapolate the data gathered so far by Kepler, up in August 1961 — failed to launch. So did designed to detect exoplanets. To date it has the Milky Way could contain up to 100 million Ranger 2 three months later. The third try, identified 14 - the smallest being about five habitable planets. launched in January 1962, managed to get into times the mass of Earth. So where does that leave us with the space — only to miss the moon entirely. question 'Are we alone?'. Attempt No. 4 in April the same year launched Avalanche of Earths The exoplanets detected by the Kepler flawlessly, but the ship itself proved faulty. telescope are less than 500 light years from Ranger 5 launched fine in October but, like its But over the weekend, Kepler co- Earth. While that may not seem far away, earlier cousin, missed the moon. Ranger 6 came investigator Dr Dimitar Sasselov, appeared to consider this: The Voyager 1 spacecraft has closer than any of its predecessors: the ship spill the beans during a presentation he gave at been travelling for more than 30 years at a speed impacted the moon as it was meant to, but an a TED talk in the United Kingdom. of approximately 60,000 kilometres per hour, accident during flight messed up the cameras During the presentation he displayed a yet it is only 0.002 light years away from Earth. and it couldn't snap any shots. Finally, Ranger 7, series of charts showing the number of planets At this speed it would take 7.5 million years to launched in July 1964, managed to hit the known at various stages in history. The first two reach the edge of Kepler's depth of view. moon, sending more than 4,300 pictures to showed the distribution of planets, based on And don't count on ground-based scientists who must have been relieved. Seventh time's a charm. (Continued on Page 33)