Buddhas Hand Posted February 27, 2014 Share Posted February 27, 2014 NASA discovers 715 new planets By Doug Gross, CNN February 27, 2014 -- Updated 0047 GMT (0847 HKT) | Filed under: Innovations CNN) -- Our galactic neighborhood just got a lot bigger. NASA on Wednesday announced the discovery of 715 new planets, by far the biggest batch of planets ever unveiled at once. By way of comparison, about 1,000 planets total had been identified in our galaxy before Wednesday. Four of those planets are in what NASA calls the "habitable zone," meaning they have the makeup to potentially support life. The planets, which orbit 305 different stars, were discovered by the Kepler space telescope and were verified using a new technique that scientists expect to make new planetary discoveries more frequent and more detailed. "We've been able to open the bottleneck to access the mother lode and deliver to you more than 20 times as many planets as has ever been found and announced at once," said Jack Lissauer, a planetary scientist at NASA's Ames Research Center in California. Launched in March 2009, the Kepler space observatory was the first NASA mission to find planets similar to Earth that are in, or near, habitable zones -- defined as planets that are the right distance from a star for a moderate temperature that might sustain liquid water. Tuesday's planets all were verified using data from the first two years of Kepler's voyage, meaning there may be many more to come. "Kepler has really been a game-changer for our understanding of the incredible diversity of planets and planetary systems in our galaxy," said Douglas Hudgins, a scientist with NASA's astrophysics division. The new technique is called "verification by multiplicity," and relies in part on the logic of probability. Instead of searching blindly, the team focused on stars that the technique suggests are likely to have more than one planet in their orbit. NASA says 95% of the planets discovered by Kepler are smaller than Neptune, which is four times as big as Earth. One of them is about twice the size of Earth and orbits a star half the size of Earth's sun in a 30-day cycle. The other three planets in habitable zones also are all roughly twice the size of Earth. Scientists said the multiplicity technique is biased toward first discovering planets close to their star and that, when further data comes in, they expect to find a higher percentage of new planets that could potentially have a life-supporting climate like Earth's. "The more we explore the more we find familiar traces of ourselves amongst the stars that remind us of home," said Jason Rowe, a research scientist at the SETI Institute in Mountain View, California, and co-leader of the research team. I love Jason Rowe's statement at the end of the article , after all the elements that we are made of come from the stars. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bombastik der Teutone Posted February 27, 2014 Share Posted February 27, 2014 I love Jason Rowe's statement at the end of the article , after all the elements that we are made of come from the stars. Have watched something on TV some Days ago that was exactly about this.... how the Earth was Born and how the first Lifeforms came into the Ocean very interesting... People should throw away their "Holy Books" ...lol Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NightHawkSniper Posted February 27, 2014 Share Posted February 27, 2014 Find a planet with Kesler clones pls, lots of em. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Heisenberg Posted February 27, 2014 Share Posted February 27, 2014 Humans know nothing, absolutely nothing, yet think they do. We have zero idea how this marvellous, mysterious Universe works. I love science, it is the best. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
g_bassi13 Posted February 27, 2014 Share Posted February 27, 2014 I thought the Kepler Telescope was essentially fatally malfunctioned. How exactly did they modify their tactics with a hindered device to pull out that kind of research? I understand that much of the initial discovery of these planets would have taken place before that time, but periods of verification and what not would have to have come afterwards, no? edit: Okay, I see now that it mentions all the data is specifically from the first 2 years the telescope was up. That makes a lot more sense. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Heretic Posted February 27, 2014 Share Posted February 27, 2014 Have watched something on TV some Days ago that was exactly about this.... how the Earth was Born and how the first Lifeforms came into the Ocean very interesting... People should throw away their "Holy Books" ...lol I'll pass. Time to rehash the Fermi Paradox with all these "new to us" planets and ask where is the intelligent life and why isn't the galaxy colonized yet? Yes, I love science too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Offensive Threat Posted February 27, 2014 Share Posted February 27, 2014 Humans know nothing, absolutely nothing, yet think they do. We have zero idea how this marvellous, mysterious Universe works. I love science, it is the best. I think we, in general, have a pretty good idea of just how ignorant we are. But hey, Its a work in progress and we are just getting started. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Offensive Threat Posted February 27, 2014 Share Posted February 27, 2014 I'll pass. Time to rehash the Fermi Paradox with all these "new to us" planets and ask where is the intelligent life and why isn't the galaxy colonized yet? Yes, I love science too. I get the feeling we are going to get to do the colonizing. Somebody gets to be first, why not us? A quote from the upcoming Christopher Nolan movie Interstellar "And perhaps we've just forgotten that we are still pioneers and we've barely begun. And that our greatest accomplishments cannot be behind us, as our destiny lies above us." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Heretic Posted February 27, 2014 Share Posted February 27, 2014 I get the feeling we are going to get to do the colonizing. Somebody gets to be first, why not us? A quote from the upcoming Christopher Nolan movie Interstellar "And perhaps we've just forgotten that we are still pioneers and we've barely begun. And that our greatest accomplishments cannot be behind us, as our destiny lies above us." I would agree, if we were in fact the "oldest" planet in the galaxy capable of sustaining life. Alas, that's not the case. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dogbyte Posted February 27, 2014 Share Posted February 27, 2014 Shouldn't this be labelled NASA employee figures out how to use the focus dial on telescope? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Gumballthechewy Posted February 27, 2014 Share Posted February 27, 2014 Time to rehash the Fermi Paradox with all these "new to us" planets and ask where is the intelligent life and why isn't the galaxy colonized yet? The universe is a huge place, we have seen basically nothing of it, who's to say there isn't intelligent life out there? Trying to find life in the universe is like trying to find one specific grain of sand in the Sahara, even if it is there it's highly unlikely you'll ever find it. Another way of looking at it is this: The surest sign that intelligent life exists elsewhere in the universe is that it has never tried to contact us. Either way, the universe is unbelievably huge and and intelligent life may or may not exist somewhere else out there and we'll more than likely never know one way or the other in our lifetime. Personally I like to think that the universe is to big for there not to be intelligent life somewhere else, if living on Earth has taught me anything it's that no matter what life finds a way. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bill Sikes Posted February 27, 2014 Share Posted February 27, 2014 I'll pass. Time to rehash the Fermi Paradox with all these "new to us" planets and ask where is the intelligent life and why isn't the galaxy colonized yet? Yes, I love science too. How do we know it isn't? There are billions of stars in the galaxy, billions of planets, we have found less than 1000, and those are too far away for us to determine if there is life on them. Any intelligent life form would likely take one look at us and say "best leave these monkeys alone, they aren't even smart enough to handle the bass-ackwards technology they have now" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
drummer4now Posted February 27, 2014 Share Posted February 27, 2014 The universe is a huge place, we have seen basically nothing of it, who's to say there isn't intelligent life out there? Trying to find life in the universe is like trying to find one specific grain of sand in the Sahara, even if it is there it's highly unlikely you'll ever find it. Another way of looking at it is this: The surest sign that intelligent life exists elsewhere in the universe is that it has never tried to contact us. Either way, the universe is unbelievably huge and and intelligent life may or may not exist somewhere else out there and we'll more than likely never know one way or the other in our lifetime. Personally I like to think that the universe is to big for there not to be intelligent life somewhere else, if living on Earth has taught me anything it's that no matter what life finds a way. How do we know it isn't? There are billions of stars in the galaxy, billions of planets, we have found less than 1000, and those are too far away for us to determine if there is life on them. Any intelligent life form would likely take one look at us and say "best leave these monkeys alone, they aren't even smart enough to handle the bass-ackwards technology they have now" Some people claim we have already been contacted by them. Right now this tinfoil hat material, but its interesting to say the least. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_alleged_extraterrestrial_beings A former Canadian defence minister claims these aliens exist http://news.nationalpost.com/2014/01/06/former-canadian-defence-minister-claims-aliens-refuse-to-share-technology-because-of-earths-wars-pollution/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Buddhas Hand Posted February 27, 2014 Author Share Posted February 27, 2014 Have watched something on TV some Days ago that was exactly about this.... how the Earth was Born and how the first Lifeforms came into the Ocean very interesting... People should throw away their "Holy Books" ...lol 2 documentaries i believe that are must see on this topic are Brian Cox's wonders of the universe and wonders of life , you should check them out Ollie. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lockout Casualty Posted February 27, 2014 Share Posted February 27, 2014 LOL. Fermi paradox. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Buddhas Hand Posted February 27, 2014 Author Share Posted February 27, 2014 I'll pass. Time to rehash the Fermi Paradox with all these "new to us" planets and ask where is the intelligent life and why isn't the galaxy colonized yet? Yes, I love science too. My personal belief is that if a species has attained the ability to travel between the stars then they have been able to put aside their differences and work together . Imagine if you were that species and you rolled up to our planet , we are unable to get along with each other let alone other "alien" beings. If it was me i would be waiting for us to get our sh!t together before i made contact. I also believe that if we are contacted then we will have someone/something else to compare ourselves to , maybe then we will be able to stop seeing ourselves as a disparate group of nations rather as a group of beings that share the same planet. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
drummer4now Posted February 27, 2014 Share Posted February 27, 2014 My personal belief is that if a species has attained the ability to travel between the stars then they have been able to put aside their differences and work together . Imagine if you were that species and you rolled up to our planet , we are unable to get along with each other let alone other "alien" beings. If it was me i would be waiting for us to get our sh!t together before i made contact. I also believe that if we are contacted then we will have someone/something else to compare ourselves to , maybe then we will be able to stop seeing ourselves as a disparate group of nations rather as a group of beings that share the same planet. I agree before alien exploration occurs we need to get our act together as a species. Like you have said in previous threads imagine what we would be able to accomplish as a species if we worked together not against. Its a shame we are too consumed with power and money , and not for good of humanity. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Buddhas Hand Posted February 27, 2014 Author Share Posted February 27, 2014 The universe is a huge place, we have seen basically nothing of it, who's to say there isn't intelligent life out there? Trying to find life in the universe is like trying to find one specific grain of sand in the Sahara, even if it is there it's highly unlikely you'll ever find it. Another way of looking at it is this: The surest sign that intelligent life exists elsewhere in the universe is that it has never tried to contact us. Either way, the universe is unbelievably huge and and intelligent life may or may not exist somewhere else out there and we'll more than likely never know one way or the other in our lifetime. Personally I like to think that the universe is to big for there not to be intelligent life somewhere else, if living on Earth has taught me anything it's that no matter what life finds a way. Great post gumball . I have posted this before but i love it and it always gives me a chuckle especially the last line. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Buddhas Hand Posted February 27, 2014 Author Share Posted February 27, 2014 I agree before alien exploration occurs we need to get our act together as a species. Like you have said in previous threads imagine what we would be able to accomplish as a species if we worked together not against. Its a shame we are too consumed with power and money , and not for good of humanity. Great post , totally agree mate. One of the many questions i ask myself is why some people are selfish and greedy and why others are altruistic ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Heretic Posted February 27, 2014 Share Posted February 27, 2014 How do we know it isn't? There are billions of stars in the galaxy, billions of planets, we have found less than 1000, and those are too far away for us to determine if there is life on them. Any intelligent life form would likely take one look at us and say "best leave these monkeys alone, they aren't even smart enough to handle the bass-ackwards technology they have now" Maybe. But the theory is, " it would only take from 5 million to 50 million years to colonize the galaxy". As you said, there are billions of stars and planets, and many are way older than ours - in other words, if intelligent life sprung up multiple times and given the statistical data, the galaxy should have been colonized by now including our little planet. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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