--- In [email protected], gullible fool <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > > > I'll claim the prize > > "The wobble induced on the star by each of these > planets is really tiny-it's just a few meters a > second." > > Where's the photo of the planet? All I see in the > article is the usual theory that if the star wobbles > then there just must be a planet, along with an > artist's rendition of what the "planet" might possibly > look like, along with a photograph of the star that > clearly proves today's telescopes are not capable of > showing anything more than a diffraction pattern when > it comes to resolving a star disk. > > --- hugheshugo <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: >
You can tell a lot about how many planets/how big they are etc. by how a star wobbles because the timing and frequency of variations of the wobble can only point to one (or very few) explanations. Otherwise you would have an unstable planetary system, which is unlikely in a 4.5 billion year old star as they would sort out their orbits very early. As with all science there is room for error but it's pretty unlikely here. No photo as yet, it's too far away but it will "transit the solar disc" or cross in front of its sun sooner or later then by the technique of spectroheliography we may even be able to find out if there is life on board. Which would be one of, if not THE, the most amazing discoveries ever. The link I gave wasn't so good but the wikipedia entry explains a bit about how they know it's there. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gliese_581_c Maybe you'd better send the prize to these guys.
