EXTBHTERRESTRIflLS BHD UFOS 139
Any day, the Corot may find evidence of the first Earth-like planet
in space, which will be a turning point in the history of astronomy. In
the future people may have an existential shock gazing at the night sky
and realizing that there are planets out there that could harbor intelligent life. When we look into the heavens in the future, we might find
ourselves wondering if anyone is looking back.
The Kepler satellite is tentatively scheduled for launch in late 2008
by NASA. It is so sensitive that it may be able to detect up to hundreds
of Earth-like planets in outer space. It will measure the brightness of
100,000 stars to detect the motion of any planet as it crosses the face of
the star. During the four years it will be in operation, Kepler will analyze and monitor thousands of distant stars up to 1,950 light-years
from Earth. In its first year in orbit, scientists expect the satellite to find
roughly
• 50 planets about the same size as Earth,
• 185 planets about 30 percent larger than the Earth, and
• 640 planets about 2.2 times the size of the Earth.
The Terrestrial Planet Finder may have an even better chance of
finding Earth-like planets. After several delays, it is tentatively scheduled for launch in 2014; it will analyze as many as one hundred stars
up to 45 light-years away with great accuracy. It will be equipped with
two separate devices to search for distant planets. The first is a coronagraph, a special telescope that blocks out the sunlight from the
mother star, reducing its light by a factor of a billion. The telescope
will be three to four times bigger than the Hubble Space Telescope and
ten times more precise. The second device on the Finder is an interferometer, which uses the interference of light waves to cancel the light
from the mother star by a factor of a million.
Meanwhile the European Space Agency is planning to launch its
own planet finder, the Darwin, to be sent into orbit in 2015 or later. It
is planned to consist of three space telescopes, each about 3 meters in
diameter, flying in formation, acting as one large interferometer. Its
mission, too, will be to identify Earth-like planets in space.
Identifying hundreds of Earth-like planets in outer space will help
Any day, the Corot may find evidence of the first Earth-like planet
in space, which will be a turning point in the history of astronomy. In
the future people may have an existential shock gazing at the night sky
and realizing that there are planets out there that could harbor intelligent life. When we look into the heavens in the future, we might find
ourselves wondering if anyone is looking back.
The Kepler satellite is tentatively scheduled for launch in late 2008
by NASA. It is so sensitive that it may be able to detect up to hundreds
of Earth-like planets in outer space. It will measure the brightness of
100,000 stars to detect the motion of any planet as it crosses the face of
the star. During the four years it will be in operation, Kepler will analyze and monitor thousands of distant stars up to 1,950 light-years
from Earth. In its first year in orbit, scientists expect the satellite to find
roughly
• 50 planets about the same size as Earth,
• 185 planets about 30 percent larger than the Earth, and
• 640 planets about 2.2 times the size of the Earth.
The Terrestrial Planet Finder may have an even better chance of
finding Earth-like planets. After several delays, it is tentatively scheduled for launch in 2014; it will analyze as many as one hundred stars
up to 45 light-years away with great accuracy. It will be equipped with
two separate devices to search for distant planets. The first is a coronagraph, a special telescope that blocks out the sunlight from the
mother star, reducing its light by a factor of a billion. The telescope
will be three to four times bigger than the Hubble Space Telescope and
ten times more precise. The second device on the Finder is an interferometer, which uses the interference of light waves to cancel the light
from the mother star by a factor of a million.
Meanwhile the European Space Agency is planning to launch its
own planet finder, the Darwin, to be sent into orbit in 2015 or later. It
is planned to consist of three space telescopes, each about 3 meters in
diameter, flying in formation, acting as one large interferometer. Its
mission, too, will be to identify Earth-like planets in space.
Identifying hundreds of Earth-like planets in outer space will help