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ALTAIR and Earth of Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC)
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70 Virginis b: A New Water P
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70 Virginis b: A New Water Planet? |
| Explanation |
The star 70 Virginis [ http://www.physics.sfsu.edu/~gmarcy/planetsearch/70vir/70vir.html ] has a planet. This recent discovery [ http://www.physics.sfsu.edu/~gmarcy/planetsearch/70vir/70vir.ps ] is the second known case of a planet orbiting a normal star other than our Sun [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap950813.html ] itself. The first case involved 51 Pegasi [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap951201.html ] and was announced last year. The star 70 Vir, shown in the center of the above false-color picture, is very much like the Sun [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap950925.html ]. The planet [ http://pio06.urel.berkeley.edu/documentation/Marcy2.html ] is not visible above - the unusual structure surrounding the star is caused by the telescope. The planet, designated 70 Vir b for short, was discovered [ http://www.physics.sfsu.edu/~gmarcy/planetsearch/planetsearch.html ] by very slight periodic shifts in its colors. Defining characteristics of this planet include that it is at least eight times the mass of Jupiter [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap951206.html ], it's orbit is much smaller than Jupiter [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap950625.html ]'s, and it's temperature allows water [ http://www.mother.com/uswaternews/news.html ] to exist in liquid form - like on the Earth [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap951118.html ]. Life on Earth [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap950622.html ] is based on liquid water [ http://miranda.bu.edu/cps-wamnet.html ] - could life exist here too? [ http://altair.syr.edu:2024/SETI/toc.html ] |
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COBE Hotspots: The Oldest St
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COBE Hotspots: The Oldest Structures Known |
| Explanation |
Above are two microwave [ http://ux9.lbl.gov/MicroWorlds/ALSTool/EMSpec/EMSpec.html ] images of the sky, looking north and south of our galaxy [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap950908.html ]'s equator, based on data from NASA's COBE satellite. After computer processing to remove contributions from nearby objects and the effects of the earth's motion [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap960205.html ], they show "spots". These spots [ http://ux9.lbl.gov/Science-Articles/Archive/cosmic-microwave-background-anisotropy.html ] are the oldest structures known - probably the oldest structures humanity will ever know. They are also the most distant. As our universe expanded [ http://www.ncsa.uiuc.edu/Cyberia/Cosmos/CosmicMysteryTour.html ] and cooled, conglomerations of mass formed - these are some of the first. They confirm that only a million years after the big-bang [ http://www2.ari.net/home/odenwald/qadir/acosm.html ] - which occurred roughly 15 billion years ago [ http://www.as.utexas.edu/PIO/SD_scripts/0419.html ] - parts of the universe [ http://altair.syr.edu:2024/SETI/TUTORIAL/bigbang.html ] were visibly hotter than other parts. By studying the size and distribution of the spots found with COBE [ http://spectrum.lbl.gov/www/cobe/cobe.html ] and future missions [ http://cobi.gsfc.nasa.gov/msam-ripples.html ], astronomers hope to learn what matter and processes caused the spots to form - and hence determine the composition [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/htmltest/gifcity/matter.html ], density [ http://www.as.utexas.edu/PIO/SD_scripts/0420.html ], and future [ http://www2.ari.net/home/odenwald/qadir/q26.html ] of our universe. |
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