Chrissy Simon

Chrissy Simon 4/12/13

Core Earth Science/ Ms. Davies

Overbye, Dennis. "New Planet in Neighborhood, Astronomically Speaking." New York Times. 16 Oct 2012.

Many scientists across the globe have been on a mission to find another Earth. On Wednesday October 10^th, 2012 a team of European astronomers announced that they had found a planet with the same mass as Earth’s. This planet is in Alpha Centauri. Alpha Centauri is a triple star system that is the Sun’s closest neighbor. It is only 4.4 light-years away. The planet is actually the lightest one ever found orbiting another star. However, this planet is not habitable. It circles Alpha Centauri B, a reddish orb about half as bright as the Sun, every three days at a distance of only about four million miles, resulting in extremely hot surface temperatures of 1,200 degrees. Astronomers said the discovery raised the possibility that there were habitable Earth-like planets right next door and now there is technology that is precise enough to detect them. “Very small planets are not rare,” said Mr. Dumusque. “When you find one small planet, you find others.”

            I think that this article is important to society since it discusses the discovery of a new planet that is very close to the Sun. Due to this discovery the likelihood of finding another planet is high. As scientists find more planets, they may eventually find one that is inhabited. This discovery motivates scientists to continue with their research and encourages them to perform new experiments. However, even with the new technology, HARPS, it will take many years. I was fascinated to learn about the wobble method. It is interesting how they measure the distance and mass of the new planets. Finding more inhabited planets may someday provide us with another location to live at if the Sun dies.  Discovering new planets also allows for more scientific research on different planet crusts and masses.

            The article discusses the need for more research. However it does not explain the benefits of discovering more planets. He says that different scientists need to validate the discovery of a new planet. But what value does that new planet have to our existence? The author of the article does not really explain the benefits of more research and more discoveries. I would like to learn how these discoveries would affect our lives.