Elyssa Webster
September 17, 2009
Chemistry, per. 2
Science in the News: http://www.sciencenews.org/view/generic/id/47368/title/Rock_solid_planet
Rock Solid Planet
Beyond the outer limits of our beloved solar system, Milky Way, there lies a planet not much different in make up than our own. To reach this far away planet you must travel for 500 light-years, dodging all the fiery balls of gas that light the night sky. The name of this far away planet is COROT-7b and the similarities in the compositions of Earth and COROT are phenomenal. Although this new extrasolar planet is much too hot to sustain life it still excites scientists and encourages them to believe that life in space is possible. In this article you learn that COROT is likely made up of a silicate mantle and an iron core, just like earth. (Didier Queloz of the Geneva Observatory in Switzerland.) Queloz team had announced that they found the planet in February of this year and were able to pin down the size, which is 1.8 of Earth’s diameter, based on the shadow it creates against its star when it periodically passes over the front of it. The last super adrenaline pumping fact in the article states that in the most recent mass measurements of the planet they have found that it has an average density of 5.6 grams per cubic centimeter, which is almost identical to that of earth!
The social impacts of a discovery like this are unbeknownst because scientists know that this new planet, dubbed COROT-7b by Queloz’s team, cannot maintain life due to heating issues. So, what will this discovery do for the world? That is what we must keep digging into and uncover.
My personal reaction to this discovery is one of disbelief. I cannot fathom how it is that we have the technology to send probes outside of our solar system, into the unknown regions of space and find, let alone measure, a planet. It almost makes me think that maybe the world will end up like Star Trek and there will be tons of planets with people living on them throughout many different galaxies. I just can’t wait to figure out what scientists do with the information they have gained from this discovery.
September 17, 2009
Chemistry, per. 2
Science in the News: http://www.sciencenews.org/view/generic/id/47368/title/Rock_solid_planet
Rock Solid Planet
Beyond the outer limits of our beloved solar system, Milky Way, there lies a planet not much different in make up than our own. To reach this far away planet you must travel for 500 light-years, dodging all the fiery balls of gas that light the night sky. The name of this far away planet is COROT-7b and the similarities in the compositions of Earth and COROT are phenomenal. Although this new extrasolar planet is much too hot to sustain life it still excites scientists and encourages them to believe that life in space is possible. In this article you learn that COROT is likely made up of a silicate mantle and an iron core, just like earth. (Didier Queloz of the Geneva Observatory in Switzerland.) Queloz team had announced that they found the planet in February of this year and were able to pin down the size, which is 1.8 of Earth’s diameter, based on the shadow it creates against its star when it periodically passes over the front of it. The last super adrenaline pumping fact in the article states that in the most recent mass measurements of the planet they have found that it has an average density of 5.6 grams per cubic centimeter, which is almost identical to that of earth!
The social impacts of a discovery like this are unbeknownst because scientists know that this new planet, dubbed COROT-7b by Queloz’s team, cannot maintain life due to heating issues. So, what will this discovery do for the world? That is what we must keep digging into and uncover.
My personal reaction to this discovery is one of disbelief. I cannot fathom how it is that we have the technology to send probes outside of our solar system, into the unknown regions of space and find, let alone measure, a planet. It almost makes me think that maybe the world will end up like Star Trek and there will be tons of planets with people living on them throughout many different galaxies. I just can’t wait to figure out what scientists do with the information they have gained from this discovery.
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