Red dwarf stars may host billions of habitable planets
Posted: Fri, Mar 30, 2012, 7:18 AM ET (1118 GMT)
Astronomers studying a sampling of red dwarf stars have concluded that these stars may collectively have billions of rocky planets in their habitable zones. European astronomers analyzed over 100 M dwarf stars using an advanced spectrograph at the European Southern Observatory. They found nine super-Earths, with masses one to ten times that of the Earth, orbiting these stars; two of the planets had orbits within the stars' habitable zones, where liquid water could exist on planetary surfaces. This frequency led astronomers to conclude that there are about 100 super-Earths in the habitable zones of red dwarf stars within 10 parsecs of Earth. Extended galaxy-wide, astronomers argued that there could be tens of billions of such planets in the Milky Way.
Astronomers studying a sampling of red dwarf stars have concluded that these stars may collectively have billions of rocky planets in their habitable zones. European astronomers analyzed over 100 M dwarf stars using an advanced spectrograph at the European Southern Observatory. They found nine super-Earths, with masses one to ten times that of the Earth, orbiting these stars; two of the planets had orbits within the stars' habitable zones, where liquid water could exist on planetary surfaces. This frequency led astronomers to conclude that there are about 100 super-Earths in the habitable zones of red dwarf stars within 10 parsecs of Earth. Extended galaxy-wide, astronomers argued that there could be tens of billions of such planets in the Milky Way.
Related Links:
| <<previous article | next article>> |
|
news in brief
|
|
Apex becomes billion-dollar company with $200 million Series D round
Posted: Sun, Sep 14 4:09 AM ET (0809 GMT) |
|
news links
|
|
Thursday, September 18
Russia developing Starlink rival at 'rapid pace,' space chief says
Reuters — 1:56 am ET (0556 GMT) Rocket Lab Looks To Raise $750M In Share Sale
Aviation Week — 1:53 am ET (0553 GMT) Blue Origin hires Christopher Fuller as marketing and comms head
PRWeek — 1:52 am ET (0552 GMT) Weather Causes SpaceX Team to Scrub Wednesday’s Liftoff Attempt From VSFB
Noozhawk — 1:50 am ET (0550 GMT) Update: SpaceX Launch from Vandenberg Rescheduled Due to Weather
Santa Barbara (CA) Edhat — 1:50 am ET (0550 GMT) |
