BREAKING NEWS: A Solar Twin in the Big Dipper

A yellow star in the Big Dipper's bowl bears a striking resemblance to our
Sun, say astronomers in Australia. It may therefore have a planet like
Earth, so they suggest scientists search the star for signs of intelligent
life. For the full story, see http://KenCroswell.com/HD98618.html .

Other recent stories:

The Horsehead Nebula is Rotating (Jan 31, 2006):
http://KenCroswell.com/HorseheadNebulaIsRotating.html .

Andromeda's Newest Satellite Galaxy (Jan 29, 2006):
http://KenCroswell.com/AndromedaX.html .

Most Stars Are Single (Jan 19, 2006):
http://KenCroswell.com/MostStarsAreSingle.html .

The Tenth Planet's First Anniversary (Jan 5, 2006):
http://KenCroswell.com/TenthPlanetFirstAnniversary.html .

First Direct Distance to Andromeda (Nov 4, 2005):
http://KenCroswell.com/AndromedaDistance.html .

A not-so-recent story, but perfect for the month of March:

Regulus is Oblate (Jan 19, 2005):
http://KenCroswell.com/RegulusIsOblate.html .

Correct email: MagnificentUniverse "at" yahoo "dot" com.

"Magnificent Universe" wrote in message
...
A yellow star in the Big Dipper's bowl bears a striking resemblance to our
Sun, say astronomers in Australia. It may therefore have a planet like
Earth, so they suggest scientists search the star for signs of
intelligent
life. For the full story, see http://KenCroswell.com/HD98618.html .

Interesting article. I tried to find it using Starry night enthusiast, but
it wasn't listed. I'm going to see if I can find it on deepsky free.
Thanks for the link.

George

On Fri, 10 Mar 2006 11:17:05 -0600, Magnificent Universe
wrote:

A yellow star in the Big Dipper's bowl bears a striking resemblance to
our
Sun, say astronomers in Australia. It may therefore have a planet like
Earth, so they suggest scientists search the star for signs of
intelligent
life. For the full story, see http://KenCroswell.com/HD98618.html .

Must be a truly powerful telescope if it can search the big dipper
from Australia. Doesn't a few thousand miles of ocean and rock
interfere with the spectra?

On Fri, 10 Mar 2006 23:35:00 -0600, LarryG wrote:

Must be a truly powerful telescope if it can search the big dipper
from Australia. Doesn't a few thousand miles of ocean and rock
interfere with the spectra?

Believe it or not, they actually let Australian astronomers use the Keck
scopes now and then.

_________________________________________________

Chris L Peterson
Cloudbait Observatory
http://www.cloudbait.com

Chris L Peterson wrote:
On Fri, 10 Mar 2006 23:35:00 -0600, LarryG wrote:


Must be a truly powerful telescope if it can search the big dipper
from Australia. Doesn't a few thousand miles of ocean and rock
interfere with the spectra?


Believe it or not, they actually let Australian astronomers use the Keck
scopes now and then.



In exchange for some of that good Aussie wine?

Presumably without ever leaving Canberra. Aren't all observing
requests conducted by observatory staff?

"Magnificent Universe" wrote in message
...
A yellow star in the Big Dipper's bowl bears a striking resemblance to our
Sun, say astronomers in Australia. It may therefore have a planet like
Earth, so they suggest scientists search the star for signs of intelligent
life. For the full story, see http://KenCroswell.com/HD98618.html .



With the current state of being able to peer into other solar systems, this
kind of
discovery is meaningless until they actually have telescopes that can
subtract
the glare of the parent star and actually see other planets. It will also
take some painstaking
observation to tell if the star wobbles under the influence of neighboring
planets either directly
or spectroscopically. That article basically is just a brain teaser and
nothing more.

The chances of a sister planet evolving exactly like earth is
well..ASTRONOMICAL.
There must be gas giants present in any solar system at such a distance as
to protect inner
rocky planets from devastating asteroid hits for instance.

So, keep dreaming.

I think Australia has a 5% share of Keck, our government has a small share
of several large observeries in the Northern Hemisphere. Quite a few CDD
Imaging system and one or two adaptive optics systems used around the world
are Australian made and designed. Trouble with doing it this way is not
much recognition, but 5-10% usage time of a few of the world class
facilities around the world adds up.

Also from northern Australia the Bowl of the Dig Dipper we can observe, I
did a few times from Darwin when I lived there and the are a few small
professional observeries in northern Australia.


"Chris L Peterson" wrote in message
...
On Fri, 10 Mar 2006 23:35:00 -0600, LarryG wrote:

Must be a truly powerful telescope if it can search the big dipper
from Australia. Doesn't a few thousand miles of ocean and rock
interfere with the spectra?

Believe it or not, they actually let Australian astronomers use the Keck
scopes now and then.

_________________________________________________

Chris L Peterson
Cloudbait Observatory
http://www.cloudbait.com