Abigail
Roesser
Ms.
Davies
C
-Block
New
Planet in Neighborhood, Astronomically Speaking
Overbye,
Dennis. "New Planet in Neighborhood, Astronomically Speaking." The
New York Times. The New York Times, 17 Oct. 2012. Web. 30 Mar. 2013.
Scientists
are constantly searching for a planet similar to the one we call home everyday.
Its no secret that the planet we are on now, Earth, will not last forever. In October
2012 a European graduate student named Xavier Dumusque announced that he had
found one with the same mass as Earth in Alpha Centauri. It is the lightest
planet ever found. Alpha Centauri is a “triple star system that is the Sun’s
closest neighbor, only 4.4 light-years away.” It is believed that in Alpha
Centauri there are many other rocky. In Alpha Centauri there is Alpha Centauri
A and B. In Alpha Centauri A the star is a little bit brighter than our Sun and
it is larger. These two star systems pass closest to each other every 900
million years. The article discusses that there is an area in Alpha Centauri B
where the temperature is “moderate” enough for water as well as humans and
people like us. The planet was found through a method known as the “wobble
method”. Xavier Dumusque and his colleagues built spectrographs known as HARPS on
a telescope. The diameter of the telescope was 140 inches. The discovery of
this planet similar to ours has led to space exploration in Alpha Centauri. There
have been many different reactions to the discovery of this planet. Some people
were happy because this is a very close planet that “you could almost spit
there” but others believed that they should just send a probe there to explore
this. According to Dr. Geoffrey Marcy this kind of discovery created a new
interest in experiments and programs including the Terrestrial Planet Finder.
Dr. Marcy said, “What a great scientific educational mission to have a probe
out there, making its way decade after decade.”
This
article is very important to the study of earth science because understanding
other planets similar to Earth can helps us become prepared for the future. As
of now scientists everyday are looking for a place for humans to live, because
Earth will not last forever. Understanding the planets around us could be the
key to our future. I chose this article because I thought that it was
interesting how there can be a place capable of sustaining human life.
I thought
that this article was very well written. I think that if you are interested in
other planets I would urge you to read this article. The author got quotes from
a few different scientists, which was good evidence for what they were saying.
However, I noticed that sometimes the article seemed confusing and in many
cases lacked some information. Overall, I thought that the article was very
interesting.
Briana Nardone
ReplyDeleteApril 3, 2013
Core Earth Science C-even
Abigail, I think you had many aspects to your review that was composed very well. Readers were able to know the information clearly and understandable. You also summarized the article in a way that you sounded very interested in what the author was talking about. I was very impressed with your article choice because I did not know about Alpha Centauri A and B. Scientist finding a planet with close resemblance to us is such a big deal for the future of humans. This putts humans a step forward to knowing where we will go when Earth is no longer inhabitable. I found it interesting that this was not more publicized because people should know more about this topic. Although this is 4.4 light years away it is interesting to know scientist are able to collect information on Alpha Centauri A and B being they are so far away. One suggestion to make this review better is in the second paragraph I feel it got a bit repetitive. This was a very interesting summary and overall you did a very good job presenting it in clear and well written format.
I really enjoyed reading your article review Abigail I thought it was very well written. I am also very interested in the continued search for life in other galaxies. I firmly believe that life exists on another planet somewhere. The universe is so large that we can not be the only forms of life in it. You did a wonderful job summarizing the article and explaining to the reader the most important parts of the article. I am sure that this article was long so I appreciate the fact that you were able to hit on the key points and give me all the facts I need to understand and follow along. I also liked your explanation ion why this article is important to Earth Science. I agree with you that it is important to look out into space for any Earth look a likes because you are right Earth will not last forever. I also think you had great quote integration and the whole article review seemed to flow very nice. Just a few small things to improve on. I would love to learn more about the “wobble method” so maybe you could take a sentence or two to better explain what that method involves. Also, I am just a little confused about how this planet in Alpha Centauri can be the lightest planet ever found if its mass is similar to Earth’s. Mercury for example, is lighter than Earth. Other than that I really enjoyed your article and I hope to read another one of your summaries.
ReplyDeleteAt the rate that humans are polluting and destroying our planet, I believe that it is completely logical to be thinking about a possible replacement planet. I thought that Abigail’s report was well composed and informative. I thought she did a good job of organizing the information and conveying it in a defined way. I found the article very interesting, I have always known that our planet, and solar system will not last forever, but I never thought that it was even possible to find another planet that can sustain human life. I found it fascinating that there is a planet very similar in mass and temperature to Earth, and it is only 4.4 light-years away. Even though currently 4.4 light years is an unreachable distance, with the rapid advancements in technology today that distance may be completely practical in the future. I also enjoyed learning about how the scientists discovered these planets, and actually found out some of their physical properties. A few ways this report could have been improved would to have included more information on how the scientists found the planets, and how they discovered the planets actual physical properties with out sending a probe. And, I think it would be helpful if you went into more detail about the spectrographs known as HARPS, because I am slightly confused about what this did to the telescope and how it helped the scientists. Overall I truly enjoyed reading your report, and I found it very interesting to learn about alternatives to planet Earth.
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