Article - Elusive Earths

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Jason H. - 25 Jun 2005 06:32 GMT

Article - Elusive Earths - by Henry Bortman

http://www.astrobio.net/news/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=1611

Quoting them
"...In this interview with Astrobiology Magazine, Professor of
Astronomy Geoff Marcy, one of the world's leading planet-hunters,
reflects on recent other-worldly discoveries and speculates on what
surprises may lay in store."

Watch for his comments on habitable planets and some constraints on
exoplanet populations (and admitted speculation) but he says that
they're looking at approximately:

~12% of stars having Jupiter-mass planets (~85% not having Jupiter mass
planets.)

Possibly ~100% with Earth-mass flotsam because of proto-stellar disks.

Also, they've found a majority of exoplanets with high orbital
eccentricities (I've always wondered why big freezes are such a
negative, is this so tough a niche for life? It happens in the tundra
and high elevations. And how long does it take to freeze and thaw an
atmosphere? Especially if it's a giant terrestrial planet? Also, can
life exploit both the gas and solid states of the atmospheric
molecules? (i.e. if the atmosphere freezes out can life under the ice
consume it and use it as an aid in metabolism or do they just hibernate
insulated from the vacuum of space until the the next thaw?)

Also, if he's right on that Earth-mass guess (and the possibilities are
greater than I have ever hoped for) then perhaps success is right
around the corner.
Jason H.

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Jason H. - 25 Jun 2005 17:11 GMT

Jason H. wrote (at 2 a.m. :^):

> Also, they've found a majority of exoplanets with high orbital
> eccentricities (I've always wondered why big freezes are such a
[quoted text clipped - 5 lines]
> consume it and use it as an aid in metabolism or do they just hibernate
> insulated from the vacuum of space until the the next thaw?)

Unfortunately AFTER I logged off and jumped in the shower, that's when
I gave this a little better consideration (what was I thinking, solid
O2 eating extremophiles, those buggers could launch themselves to the
stars with a burp :^)

Really, at first I was thinking, first the water would freeze out, then
the carbon dioxide and perhaps they could live insulated under the ice
pack, but then I thought (in the shower), once the oxygen and nitrogen
reached a low enough temperature (-297.4 for O2 at one Earth atmosphere
and for N -320.5 F) it would be liquid until it reached -346F for N and
-361.9 F for O2 at one Earth atmosphere; and perhaps their higher
liquid density could cause them to trickle through the water ice and
CO2 ice and kill the organisms underneath? (or would they pond above
the ice pack?) And when the big thaw comes, the frozen or liquid O2
that seeped underneath the CO2 and water ice would explosively erupt
out (not a happy place to live for our kind of life.) Would higher
atmospheric pressures prevent 02 and Nitrogen from freezing out
altogether? (somebody must have modeled this a long time ago, I need
to read up on it! If only I had studied basic chemistry.)

Basically I'm saying that I'm a knucklehead for speculating about LOX
breathing E.T.'s, sorry.

Jason H.

> Also, if he's right on that Earth-mass guess (and the possibilities are
> greater than I have ever hoped for) then perhaps success is right
> around the corner.
> Jason H.

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Eric - 26 Jun 2005 04:50 GMT

> Jason H. wrote (at 2 a.m. :^):
>
[quoted text clipped - 32 lines]
>
> Jason H.

Keep thinking, this is exactly how discoveries are made. Right or wrong,
you've taken the extra step to reason it out.
Eric

>> Also, if he's right on that Earth-mass guess (and the possibilities are
>> greater than I have ever hoped for) then perhaps success is right
>> around the corner.
>> Jason H.

Reply to this Message

Space Forum / SETI / June 2005

Article - Elusive Earths