In a message dated 00-08-06 21:50:25 EDT, you write: << Now Counting Five Solar Systems With Planets http://www.farshore.force9.co.uk/n_plan02.htm [Original headline: New planets speed up search for alien life] Earth and its fellow planets are not alone. Astronomers have found solar systems around five other stars - and believe that they are on the verge of finding many more. The discovery is based on a survey of 1,100 stars, a tiny fraction of those visible from Earth, suggesting that many others will also be found to have planetary systems. The news - to be announced in Manchester tomorrow at the International Astronomical Union's conference on extra-solar planetary systems - will delight the growing band of scientists who believe life will one day be found on other planets. Andrew Collier Cameron, an astronomer at the University of St Andrews, whose team last year detected light directly from an extra-solar planet, said the discovery of new planetary systems was a landmark. "We have found lots of single planets but theory predicts that once one has formed, it should destabilise other rubble orbiting a star. This would prompt the formation of more planets - so finding multi-planet systems confirms our vision of how solar systems form." The latest research was done by Debra Fischer at the University of California, Berkeley, who studied 12 of the 44 stars already known to have orbiting planets. In each system the planet was a large gas giant similar to Jupiter and hundreds of times bigger than Earth. All the planets had elliptical orbits that tugged their parent stars back and forth, changing the quality of the light they emitted. She found, however, that five stars, including 55 Cancri and HD 38529, showed further fluctuations whose most likely cause was the pull from a second planet. The research will be presented by Geoffrey Marcy, professor of astronomy at UC Berkeley, and Paul Butler, an astronomer at the Carnegie Institution of Washington, who will also announce the discovery of three new stars with extrasolar planets. The conference will also hear of attempts to analyse the atmosphere around another planet. David Charbonneau, of the Harvard-Smithsonian Centre for Astrophysics, has made an intensive study of a star known as HD 209458, which has a massive planet whose orbit, viewed from Earth, takes it across the face of its star. Some of the light from the star should, in theory, be altered by passing through the planet's atmosphere. The planet is highly hostile to life, with a surface temperature estimated at 1,200C and an atmosphere probably comprising hydrogen and gaseous sodium. However, showing such analysis can work would pave the way for detecting oxygen and carbon dioxide - the signs of life - on other planets. � Story originally published in � The Sunday Times / London | By Jonathan Leake - August 6 2000 --------------------------------------------------------------------<e|- Get a NextCard Visa, in 30 seconds! Apply NOW! 1. Fill in the brief application 2. Enjoy a half minute of relaxation 3. Get rates as low as 2.9% Intro or 9.9% Ongoing APR and no annual fee! <A HREF="http://click.egroups.com/1/7876/12/_/815724/_/965612993/">Click Here!</A> --------------------------------------------------------------------|e>- SURFING THE APOCALYPSE http://www.surfingtheapocalypse.com To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] >> __________ EcoNews Service - Alternative News: Ecology, Consciousness & Universe Politics mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] USA http://www.earthradioTV.com/index2.html CZECH http://mujweb.cz/www/ecologynews/ UK http://members.tripod.co.uk/ecologynews/ Canada http://www.ecologynews.com/index2.html <A HREF="http://www.ctrl.org/">www.ctrl.org</A> DECLARATION & DISCLAIMER ========== CTRL is a discussion & informational exchange list. Proselytizing propagandic screeds are unwelcomed. Substance�not soap-boxing�please! These are sordid matters and 'conspiracy theory'�with its many half-truths, mis- directions and outright frauds�is used politically by different groups with major and minor effects spread throughout the spectrum of time and thought. That being said, CTRLgives no endorsement to the validity of posts, and always suggests to readers; be wary of what you read. CTRL gives no credence to Holocaust denial and nazi's need not apply. Let us please be civil and as always, Caveat Lector. ======================================================================== Archives Available at: http://peach.ease.lsoft.com/archives/ctrl.html <A HREF="http://peach.ease.lsoft.com/archives/ctrl.html">Archives of [EMAIL PROTECTED]</A> http:[EMAIL PROTECTED]/ <A HREF="http:[EMAIL PROTECTED]/">ctrl</A> ======================================================================== To subscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email: SUBSCRIBE CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED] To UNsubscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email: SIGNOFF CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED] Om
