Well, it seems that astronomers are at it once again. I was just reading an
article on the Fox News website, entitled "Scientists Spot Earth-Like New
Planet", which discusses the recent "discovery" of yet
another extrasolar
planet. For the uninitiated, extrasolar planets are simply planets which
exist outside of our immediate Solar System.

As I fully explain in my eight-part series "Alien Life, Extrasolar Planets
And Universal Atonement", my problem with this news article, as with all of
the previous 300 or so "discoveries" of extrasolar planets, is the
questionable methods which are used by astronomers in order to "discover"
these planets.

As I point out in the series, the main thing you need to remember when you
read these kind of news articles, is that NONE of these 300+ extrasolar
planets have been physically observed. Actually, there is one, but there is
still strong debate in academic circles regarding whether or not it is truly
a planet at all.

In other words, as I explain in the series, the existence of these planets
is not based on physical observation of the planet itself, but rather on
secondary evidence, such as stellar wobble, which merely SUGGESTS the
presence of another body which is affecting the host star in some way.

Based on this questionable "evidence", scientists then proceed to create a
planet out of thin air, telling us how large it is, its approximate mass,
its supposed composition, whether or not water may exist on its surface,
whether or not it may support some form of life, etc...all without having
ever actually seen the planet in question.

Let me clarify again, as I do in the series, that I am not saying that
planets do not exist outside of our immediate Solar System. Considering the
vastness of the Universe which God created, and God's own Greatness, and His
propensity for creating things, I am inclined to believe that there are many
other planets in the Universe, and that some of them may possibly be home to
other intelligent species, similar to ourselves, or other life forms.

The bottom line, is that, personally, I would like to see some hard evidence
that these extrasolar planets truly exist, in the form of REAL images. Do
that, and you will make believers out of a lot of people, I am sure. Perhaps
in coming years, as technology continues to improve, the means will become
available where we will actually be able to obtain REAL images of said
extrasolar planets; and if so, it will truly open the door to other exciting
avenues of contemplation, but not until then.

If you would like to read my eight-part series "Alien Life, Extrasolar
Planets And Universal Atonement", please go to this URL:

http://www.endtimeprophecy.net/EPN-1/Articles/Articles-UFOs/alienlif01.html


Scientists Spot Earth-Like New Planet

FoxNews.com

April 22, 2009


The lightest exoplanet yet discovered Ñ only about twice the mass of Earth Ñ
has been detected, astronomers announced today.

"With only 1.9 Earth-masses, it is the least massive exoplanet ever detected
and is, very likely, a rocky planet,"said Xavier Bonfils of Grenoble
Observatory in France, a member of the team that made the discovery, which
was announced at the European Week of Astronomy and Space Science at the
University of Hertfordshire in the United Kingdom.

The planet was found in the famous system Gliese 581 and has been dubbed
"Gliese 581 e." It was detected using the low-mass-exoplanet hunter HARPS
spectrograph attached to the 3.6-metre ESO telescope at La Silla, Chile.

Measurements with the telescope also helped to refine the orbit of the new
planet's solar system sibling, a planet called Gliese 581 d, placing it well
within the habitable zone, where liquid water oceans could exist.

"The holy grail of current exoplanet research is the detection of a rocky,
Earth-like planet in the 'habitable zone' Ñ a region around the host star
with the right conditions for water to be liquid on a planet's surface,"
said Michel Mayor from the Geneva Observatory, who led the European team
that made the finding.

Planet Gliese 581 e orbits its host star Ñ located only 20.5 light-years
away in the constellation Libra Ñ in just 3.15 days. Being so close to its
host star, the planet is not in the habitable zone.

With the discovery of Gliese 581 e, the planetary system now has four known
planets, with masses of about 1.9 Earth-masses (planet e), 16 Earth-masses
(planet b), 5 Earth-masses (planet c), and 7 Earth-masses (planet d).

"Gliese 581 d, which orbits the host star in 66.8 days, is probably too
massive to be made only of rocky material, but we can speculate that it is
an icy planet that has migrated closer to the star," said team member
Stephane Udry of Geneva University in Switzerland. "'D' could even be
covered by a large and deep ocean Ñ it is the first serious 'water world'
candidate."

Low-mass red dwarf stars such as Gliese 581 are potentially fruitful hunting
grounds for low-mass exoplanets in the habitable zone. The gravitational
pull of orbiting exoplanets introduces a slight wobble to the star's motion.
Because the habitable zone of cool stars like Gliese 581 is so close to the
star, the planets within this zone exert a stronger pull, and so the wobble
of the star is more pronounced, though detecting the signal is still a
challenge.

Over the last two decades, scientists have spotted more than 300 extrasolar
planets circling other stars in our Milky Way galaxy. Most of these planets
have been about the size of Jupiter or larger.

"It is amazing to see how far we have come since we discovered the first
exoplanet around a normal star in 1995 Ñ the one around 51 Pegasi," said
Mayor, who helped find that planet. "The mass of Gliese 581 e is 80 times
less than that of 51 Pegasi b. This is tremendous progress in just 14
years."

The team plans to continue looking for Earth-like, rocky planets around
other stars.

"With similar observing conditions an Earth-like planet located in the
middle of the habitable zone of a red dwarf star could be detectable,"
Bonfils said. "The hunt continues."

And HARPS isn't the only instrument looking for low-mass, Earth-like
planets. NASA's new Kepler space telescope will also be peering through the
galaxy in search of smaller alien worlds. It was launched on March 6 and
sent back its first images last Thursday.


Jeff Snyder, SysOp - Armageddon BBS  Visit us at endtimeprophecy.org port 23
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