Credit: NASA/JPL/KECK
Hawaii's Keck Telescope has recently performed a spectral analysis of the Kepler habitable zone planet line up. The results show0 the best possible scenario that scientists have been hoping for; on these newly discovered planets The Keck Team has identified many of the same atmospheric compositions that has shown to support life here on earth. Studying the starlight of these planetary systems shows that we live in a universe of complex planetary systems with all the componants needed to support life. These planetary systems were found to be elementally abundant with Hydrogen, Helium, Oxygen, Carbon, and Iron.
Abundances of Carbon and Oxygen were found to be enriched in stars with planetary systems. These results show that many exotic worlds may be formed in carbon rich environments. We find that the elemental abundances in planetary systems align with that of their host stars. Data from the Kepler Space Observatory suggests that there may be more than two billion planets in our galaxy capable of supporting life. We estimate that 10% - 20% of planets can be potentially Earth-like. Our estimates and real findings are based upon the probability of a planet residing with-in the habitable zone of it's star, and that the temperature and pressure conditions will allow liquid water to exist.
The most recent results from the Kepler Mission and new information shows us that we live in a universe abundant with planetary systems alike to those in our own star system. We have also learned about a new class of planets ranging from earth to Neptune in size completely unlike anything seen in our solar system. New information tells us that planetary and star systems are not all alike, many planets have been found around binary and trinary star systems, adding to the complexity and diversity of our results.
Citizen Scientists are encouraged to volunteer at planethunters.org with the opportunity of learning how to classify planetary systems.
No comments:
Post a Comment