Space & the universe
Hunting planets you can't see, and the search for a second Earth
11 min
The ingenious methods astronomers use to detect worlds orbiting distant stars they cannot directly image, and what it would take to find a truly Earth-like planet.
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Show notes
Earth-sized planets block only zero point zero one percent of a Sun-like star's light during transits.
The TRAPPIST-one system contains seven rocky planets located forty light-years away in the Aquarius constellation.
Earth's gravitational pull causes the Sun to wobble at the speed of a crawling tortoise.
The Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope will launch in twenty twenty-seven to search for rogue planets.
Directly imaging a planet is like spotting a firefly hovering next to a coastal lighthouse.
Red dwarf stars can act like cosmic blowtorches that strip atmospheres from nearby Earth-sized planets.
In this episode
- 1Intro1 min
- 2The Art of the Cosmic Shadow3 min
- 3The Stellar Tug-of-War3 min
- 4Bending Light and Direct Sight2 min
- 5The Search for a Second Earth2 min
- 6Outro1 min
Sources
- The search for Earthlike worlds | The Planetary Society
- Methods of detecting exoplanets - Wikipedia
- Seeking other Earths: Will this new telescope find them?
- How Scientists Detect Exoplanets: 5 Methods Explained | Cosmic Horizons
- How Far Can We See? The Limits of Planet Hunting | astrobites
- Can we actually see exoplanets? - ESO.org
- Exoplanet Detection Methods | Simulations4All
- NASA’s TESS Mission Finds Planetary System in New Way - NASA Science
- Space for Kids - Exoplanets hunting - ESA
- How Do We Find Exoplanets? Every Detection Method Explained | SpaceOdysseyHub
- Detecting exoplanets | Canadian Space Agency
- Exoplanet detection methods - ESA Science & Technology
- 10 Steps to Confirm a Planet Around Another Star - NASA Science
- What is Webb Revealing About the TRAPPIST-1 System? - NASA Science
- NASA Telescope Reveals Largest Batch of Earth-Size, Habitable-Zone Planets Around Single Star - NASA
- Refining the Transit-timing and Photometric Analysis of TRAPPIST-1: Masses, Radii, Densities, Dynamics, and Ephemerides - IOPscience
- Refining the Transit-timing and Photometric Analysis of TRAPPIST-1: Masses, Radii, Densities, Dynamics, and Ephemerides - IOPscience
- TRAPPIST-1: Global results of the Spitzer Exploration Science Program Red Worlds | Astronomy & Astrophysics (A&A)
- Refining the Transit-timing and Photometric Analysis of TRAPPIST-1: Masses, Radii, Densities, Dynamics, and Ephemerides - IOPscience
- Down in Front!: The Transit Photometry Method | The Planetary Society
- Transit Method - NASA Science
- Transit Method - Las Cumbres Observatory
- TRAPPIST-1 | NASA Exoplanet Archive
- NASA Webb Looks at Earth-Sized, Habitable-Zone Exoplanet TRAPPIST-1 e - NASA Science
- First Thermal Mapping of Temperate Earth-sized Exoplanets
- TRAPPIST-1 and its compact system of temperate rocky planets
- JWST-TST DREAMS: NIRSpec/PRISM Transmission Spectroscopy of the Habitable Zone Planet TRAPPIST-1 e - IOPscience
- Thermal emission from the Earth-sized exoplanet TRAPPIST-1 b using JWST | Nature
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