Trio Of Super-Earths: Harvest Of Low-mass Exoplanets Discovered With HARPS

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Trio Of Super-Earths: Harvest Of Low-mass Exoplanets Discovered With HARPS

European astronomers have announced a remarkable breakthrough in the field of extra-solar planets. Using the HARPS instrument at the ESO La Silla Observatory, they have found a triple system of super-Earths around the star HD 40307. Moreover, looking at their entire sample studied with HARPS, the astronomers count a total of 45 candidate planets with a mass below 30 Earth masses and an orbital period shorter than 50 days. This implies that one solar-like star out of three harbours such planets.

Since the discovery in 1995 of a planet around the star 51 Pegasi by Mayor and Didier Queloz, more than 270 exoplanets have been found, mostly around solar-like stars. Most of these planets are giants, such as Jupiter or Saturn, and current statistics show that about 1 out of 14 stars harbours this kind of planet.

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@Sabz5150,

I think we might find life on other planets sometime within my lifetime.

also note that the observatory is called "La Silla" which in spanish literally translates to "The Chair".

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@Fatal Freedoms,

Fatal_Freedoms;57989 wrote:

I think we might find life on other planets sometime within my lifetime.

also note that the observatory is called "La Silla" which in spanish literally translates to "The Chair".

The chances of that are increasing, although it may be a matter of "them finding us" first. Either way, the chances are rather up there. If you take the approximate number of stars in the galaxy (100 billion) and divide that by thirteen (~1 in 13 stars in the MWG are G-class, like our sun), then divide that by three (~1 in 3 "solar like stars" containing such planets)...

The result is 2,564,102,564. This only includes stars with planets that could potentially harbor life "as we know it".

Whole lotta real estate.

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@Sabz5150,

Sabz5150;57991 wrote:

The chances of that are increasing, although it may be a matter of "them finding us" first.

I doubt it, i'm sure we'll run into microscopic lifeforms before we ever see intelligent life out there.

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@Fatal Freedoms,

Fatal_Freedoms;57994 wrote:

I doubt it, i'm sure we'll run into microscopic lifeforms before we ever see intelligent life out there.

That is true. I'm thinking that it will be found on one of Jupiter's or Saturn's moons, personally. It wouldn't surprise me if microbes (or their remains) were found on Mars, but IMHO we're barking up the wrong tree.

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@Sabz5150,

Sabz5150;57995 wrote:

That is true. I'm thinking that it will be found on one of Jupiter's or Saturn's moons, personally. It wouldn't surprise me if microbes (or their remains) were found on Mars, but IMHO we're barking up the wrong tree.

Trio Of Super-Earths: Harvest Of Low-mass Exoplanets Discovered With HARPS

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