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Exoplanets
Feb. 18th, 2013 08:39 pmSo, as I expected, there was no post yesterday.
Today's post is inspired by a small piece of news I saw over the weekend, though I can't now remember the source.
Basically, the idea was to use a space telescope to look at a star known to have a planet orbiting it, and then utilise an occulting disk to very precisely block the light of the star from reaching the imaging optics. This would enable direct imaging of the planet's atmosphere. Now, for gas giants, this wouldn't be of much use, as we can never set foot there, but for rocky planets of about Earth's mass (of which there are an increasing number that we are finding), the ability to observe which of these planets has an atmosphere that would potentially be a place where life could evolve (or indeed, if markers of life could be found directly), then the possibility that we are not alone in the universe, would become a very real likelihood.
Current telescopes are, to my understanding, unable to do this, as they lack the occulting optics required. Consequently, the stars blind current telescopes to such low level light sources as orbiting planets, whereas the proposed satellite would be able to get a clear look at such planets, enabling proper characterisation of them for the first time.
It's one thing to be able to say that a star has a planet (or planets) in orbit around it, it is an entirely different, and (in my opinion) much more exciting thing to be able to say 'that planet could support life'.
Of course, given the vast distances involved in interstellar travel, I don't think that reaching another world will happen in my lifetime, although I would not object to being proven wrong by significant advances in propulsion technology, but given that the Voyager probes, launched in 1977, are only just reaching the outer boundaries of the solar system (and still making some interesting findings), I doubt I will be wrong.
All in all, though, we live in a fascinating period in history, where our ideas about ourselves, where we stand in the universe and how unique our home planet is are being challenged. I look forward to finding out what else is out there.
Today's post is inspired by a small piece of news I saw over the weekend, though I can't now remember the source.
Basically, the idea was to use a space telescope to look at a star known to have a planet orbiting it, and then utilise an occulting disk to very precisely block the light of the star from reaching the imaging optics. This would enable direct imaging of the planet's atmosphere. Now, for gas giants, this wouldn't be of much use, as we can never set foot there, but for rocky planets of about Earth's mass (of which there are an increasing number that we are finding), the ability to observe which of these planets has an atmosphere that would potentially be a place where life could evolve (or indeed, if markers of life could be found directly), then the possibility that we are not alone in the universe, would become a very real likelihood.
Current telescopes are, to my understanding, unable to do this, as they lack the occulting optics required. Consequently, the stars blind current telescopes to such low level light sources as orbiting planets, whereas the proposed satellite would be able to get a clear look at such planets, enabling proper characterisation of them for the first time.
It's one thing to be able to say that a star has a planet (or planets) in orbit around it, it is an entirely different, and (in my opinion) much more exciting thing to be able to say 'that planet could support life'.
Of course, given the vast distances involved in interstellar travel, I don't think that reaching another world will happen in my lifetime, although I would not object to being proven wrong by significant advances in propulsion technology, but given that the Voyager probes, launched in 1977, are only just reaching the outer boundaries of the solar system (and still making some interesting findings), I doubt I will be wrong.
All in all, though, we live in a fascinating period in history, where our ideas about ourselves, where we stand in the universe and how unique our home planet is are being challenged. I look forward to finding out what else is out there.
