[meteorite-list] New Solar system found ...

From: Sterling K. Webb <kelly_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Thu Apr 22 10:20:58 2004
Message-ID: <3F05B085.2C32BC14_at_bhil.com>

Hi, Mark, and List,

    The search for extra-solar "solar" systems has uncovered nothing but
"oddball" systems up till now, but that shouldn't be a surprise because
the search technology is based on signal data that is stronger the
"odder" the oddball.

    It is reassuring that we have found lots of systems, because that
means that our own little family of planets is not an isolated accident!
But there is no way at this point to tell whether what we call a
"normal" solar system is another kind of rare accident or whether it
truly is the "norm" and hence very common.

    Yes, models of solar system formation (devised by primates on the
third rock from this little star) say that a solar system like ours is
almost "inevitable." On the one hand, they fit the Copernican Principle
("Nothing special about our world"). On the other hand, it's suspicious
that it's so anthropocentric (or terracentric or solarcentric or
whatever) that it takes our one particular example as a model for the
entire universe!

    This new system, with its "Jupiter" in a circular orbit at 3.3 AU,
sounds "solar-like," but that means that the zone of gravitational
disruption that prevents planetesimals from forming larger terrestial
planets (its "asteroid" belt) extends much closer in toward its star,
into the region where earth-like thermal conditions (above freezing,
below boiling) are to be found. A trivial point, but important to
hypothetical critters whose bodies are mostly water (especially that
not-boiling part).

    HD70642 is a G6 star (smaller and cooler than our own G0 star). Its
relative luminosity is 0.31046, or about 1/3 as bright as dear old Sol.
Its "habitable zone" is much closer and smaller than a star like Sol's
and so there is a lot less room into which to place (or form) terrestial
planets. Although the "Beeb" (BBC) says it's 95 light years away, the
database I looked into said 54.33 light years. (Reporters are never
wrong, are they?)

    It's a southern star, not visible from much of the northern
hemisphere:
    Visual Magnitude: 7.17
    Longitutde: 124.921^
    Lattitude: -39.53^
    X: -23.99
    Y: 34.36
    Z: -34.58

    Interestingly enough, the original purpose of the search which found
this "Jupiter" was to find stars with planets much smaller than Jupiter,
like Neptune or Uranus. As always, it seems the universe has failed to
read the proposal...


Sterling K. Webb
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

mark ford wrote:

> New solar system found only 95 light years away, the most promising
> yet….
> See :<http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/3041220.stm>
> Regards,
>
> MARK F.
>
Received on Fri 04 Jul 2003 12:51:18 PM PDT