Tuesday, 29 May 2007

28 New Exoplanets Discovered

Astronomers have discovered 28 new planets outside of our solar system, increasing to 236 the number of known exoplanets, revealing that planets can exist around a broad spectrum of stellar types-from tiny, dim stars to giants.
"We added 12 percent to the total in the last year, and we're very proud of that," said one of the study team members Jason Wright of the University of California at Berkeley. "This provides new planetary systems so that we can study their properties as an ensemble."
The planets are among 37 new objects spotted within the past year. Seven of the objects are failed stars called brown dwarfs, with masses that dwarf the largest, Jupiter-sized planets but too small to sustain the nuclear reactions necessary for stellar ignition.
John Johnson of the University of California at Berkeley and his colleagues presented the findings here today at a meeting of the American Astronomical Society (AAS).
Astronomers don't directly spot extrasolar planets, but rather look for stellar wobbles caused by orbiting planets. The planet's size and distance from the parent star affect how strong or weak of a wobble, and more sophisticated techniques for measuring the stellar wobbles has led to an ever-lengthening list of such outer planets. Now they can detect wobbles of a meter per second compared with the 10-meter limit just 15 years ago.

Contents of the day

Article of the Day

Amazons

The Amazons are a mythical nation of female warriors whose place in Greek mythology may have been inspired by Sarmatian warrior women who, according to ancient historians, went to battle alongside their men. Archaeological evidence seems to confirm this theory; a quarter of the Sarmatian military graves that have been discovered belong to women, many of whom were buried with bows. What extreme form of body modification were Amazons rumored to practice in order to improve their marksmanship? More... Discuss

This Day in History

Founding of The Church of Jesus Christ of the Latter-Day Saints (1830)

Shortly after Joseph Smith published the Book of Mormon in 1830, he officially founded The Church of Jesus Christ of the Latter-day Saints—also known as the Mormon Church—in Fayette, New York. The church flourished but was forced to relocate frequently. It was violently expelled from Missouri, and a mob killed Smith in Illinois in 1844. His successor, Brigham Young, led followers to Utah three years later. Tensions with the US government continued to escalate, culminating in what war? More... Discuss

Today's Birthday

Gerald Joseph "Gerry" Mulligan (1927)

Mulligan was an important baritone saxophonist and one of the best-known exponents of cool jazz, a delicate, understated offshoot of bebop. He began his career in the mid-1940s as an arranger for Gene Krupa and Claude Thornhill and played on the historic Miles Davis nonet recordings in 1949. He gained considerable success with the quartet he formed with Chet Baker in 1952, and he led ensembles of various sizes thereafter. Mulligan served jail time after he was arrested in 1953 for what? More... Discuss

In the News

self-sufficient discuss

Definition:(adjective) Able to provide for or support oneself without the help of others.
Synonyms:self-sustaining
Usage:A strong and self-reliant man, he had all his life ignored companionship, had been well content to live without friends, self-contained and self-sufficient.

Quote of the Day
Although the Devil be the father of lies, he seems, like other great inventors, to have lost much of his reputation by the continual improvements that have been made upon him.
Jonathan Swift
(1667-1745)
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