Anyone Got Some Sunglasses?

This is cool.  In the effort to confirm whether extrasolar harbor extraterrestrial life, scientists need to be able to look directly at the planet itself.  Of course, the light of the parent planet inevitably creates a viewing problem as it drowns out the image.  Now scientists are playing with an idea originally conceived in the '60's by Lyman Spitzer.  They want to build a spaceshade that would be positioned out ahead of the telescope so it could filter out the interfering light.

Now, before anyone offers NASA their used sunglasses so they can save money, it isn't that simple.  The shade needs to be very specifically shaped to avoid the other problem of sunlight bending around the shade to screw up the image.  In short, we're hoping to build a giant sunflower in space.  Wow, that sounds even cooler here than it did in my head.

Scientists are also entertaining other ideas to combat the problem, including coordinating multiple telescopes to cancel out the light or techno-babbly add-ons for future telescopes.

I hope they get this figured out soon, because I really can't wait to see where the aliens might be.

Earth-like Exoplanet Discovered

Artist's depiction of the exoplanet GJ667Cc and the three stars of its triple star system.

Scientists have located a new planet outside our solar system that has them really excited.  Though 4.5 times the mass of the Earth, they believe it is composed of the same types of materials.  The planet resides in a triple star system and orbits an M-dwarf within the star's inhabitable zone.  And at 22 light years away, it should be close enough for us to eventually, with the right advances in technology, analyze the atmosphere and look for signs of life more directly.  Too bad we can't just hop into the Enterprise and go have a look.  I'd love to go along for that trip!

For more interesting information about this discovery (and believe me, it's worth the look), go to the article about it in Times.

Ohh, I love this stuff!

More Extrasolar Planets Discovered!

NASA Ames/UC Santa Cruz (Gray planets only planet candidates, not confirmed).  

As a geek who dreams of encountering alien planets and species, I'm always excited to hear about these types of discoveries.  The Kepler spacecraft has confirmed the existence of 26 more extrasolar planets (planets in solar systems outside of our own), and over 2300 potential candidates have also been located.

Though most of these planets are larger and closer to their suns than Earth is, the possibilities are very exciting to a nerd like me.  Discoveries like this always make me think about what all might be out there.  Makes me wish I had access to a ship with warp drive right about now.