New Evidence For Solar-Like Planetary System Around Nearby Star Vega

http://www.pparc.ac.uk/Nw/vega_planet.asp

New evidence for Solar-like planetary system around nearby star
Particle Physics and Astronomy Research Councils news release
December 1, 2003

Astronomers at the Particle Physics and Astronomy Research Councils UK
Astronomy Technology Centre (ATC) at the Royal Observatory, Edinburgh have
produced compelling new evidence that Vega, one of the brightest stars in
the sky, has a planetary system around it which is more like our own Solar
System than any other so far discovered.

All of the hundred or so planets that have been discovered around other
stars have been very large gaseous (Jupiter-like) planets orbiting close to
their star. This is very unlike our own Solar System. New computer modelling
techniques have shown that observations of the structure of a faint dust
disk around Vega can be best explained by a Neptune-like planet orbiting at
a similar distance to Neptune in our own solar system and having similar
mass. The wide orbit of the Neptune-like planet means that there is plenty
of room inside it for small rocky planets similar to the Earth the Holy
Grail for astronomers wanting to know whether we are alone in the Universe.

The modelling, which is described today (1 December 2003) in The
Astrophysical Journal, is based on observations taken with the world's most
sensitive submillimetre camera, SCUBA. The camera, built at the ATC, is
operated on the James Clerk Maxwell Telescope in Hawaii. The SCUBA image
shows a disk of very cold dust (-180 degrees centigrade) in orbit around the
star.

The irregular shape of the disk is the clue that it is likely to contain
planets explains astronomer Mark Wyatt, the author of the paper. Although we
cant directly observe the planets, they have created clumps in the disk of
dust around the star.

The modelling suggests that the Neptune-like planet actually formed much
closer to the star than its current position. As it moved out to its
current wide orbit over about 56 million years, many comets were swept out
with it, causing the dust disk to be clumpy.

Exactly the same process is thought to have happened in our Solar System,
said Wyatt, Neptune was pushed away from the Sun because of the presence of
Jupiter orbiting inside it. So it appears that as well as having a
Neptune-like planet, Vega may also have a more massive Jupiter-like planet
in a smaller orbit.

The model can be tested in two ways as Wayne Holland, who made the original
observations, explains The model predicts that the clumps in the disk will
rotate around the star once every three hundred years. If we take more
observations after a gap of a few years we should see the movement of the
clumps. Also the model predicts the finer detail of the disks clumpiness
which can be confirmed using the next generation of telescopes and cameras.

Paradoxically the star barely appears in the SCUBA image because it is far
too hot to be seen with this kind of detector. Vega is, however, easily seen
with the naked eye. It is the third brightest star visible from Northern
latitudes and is bluish-white in colour. Tonight you can see it in the west
at around 7pm.

Facts about Vega

* Vega is the fifth brightest star in the sky and the third brightest
visible in the Northern hemisphere.
* It is 25 light years away from the Sun (1AU is the distance between the
Earth and Sun).
* It has a diameter three times bigger than the Sun.
* It is 58 times brighter than the Sun.
* Together with Deneb and Altair, Vega forms the summer triangle.
* Vega is the brightest star in the constellation Lyra, the Harp. The
lyre, or harp, is supposed to have been invented by the Greek God
Hermes who gave it to his half-brother Apollo. Apollo then gave it to
his son Orpheus, the musician of the Argonaughts.
* Vega was the first star ever to be photographed. During the night of
July 16-17 1850 the historic picture was taken at Harvard Observatory
using a 15 inch refractor telescope during a 100 second exposure.

IMAGES:

(These are the highest resolution available).

[SCUBA Image]1. SCUBA image: This is a false colour image of the heat
emitted from the dust disk around Vega. The image shows the disk seen
face-on. The disk structure includes two bright clumps, represented by the
yellow and red colours. The star is barely noticeable and is located at the
centre of the image, mid-way between the two clumps. The dust were seeing is
actually confined to a region relatively far from the star: more than twice
as far as the distance from the Sun to Neptune. The lack of dust close to
the star is the first indication that a planetary system is hiding in the
hole. The modelling published today implies that this system looks very much
like our own Solar System.

[SCUBA Image]2. SCUBA image with the position of the star (*) and the
predicted position and direction of the planet (x) marked. The distance
between the star and the planet is equivalent to twice that between the Sun
and Neptune.

[Sky map showing the position of Vega tonight at 7pm (1 December 2003 19:00 GMT)]

3. Sky map showing the position of Vega tonight at 7pm (1 December 2003
19:00 GMT)


NOTES:

The UK ATC
The UK Astronomy Technology Centre is located at the Royal Observatory,
Edinburgh (ROE). It is a scientific site belonging to the Particle Physics
and Astronomy Research Council (PPARC). The mission of the UK ATC is to
support the mission and strategic aims of PPARC and to help keep the UK at
the forefront of world astronomy by providing a UK focus for the design,
production and promotion of state of the art astronomical technology.

The ROE
The Royal Observatory, Edinburgh comprises the UK Astronomy Technology
Centre (UK ATC) of the Particle Physics and Astronomy Research Council
(PPARC), the Institute for Astronomy (IfA) of the University of Edinburgh
and the ROE Visitor Centre.

The James Clerk Maxwell Telescope (JCMT)
The JCMT is the worlds largest single-dish submillimetre telescope. It
collects faint submillimetre signals with its 15 metre diameter dish. It is
situated near the summit of Mauna Kea on the Big Island of Hawaii, at an
altitude of approximately 4000 metres (14000 feet) above sea level. It is
operated by the Joint Astronomy Centre, on behalf of the UK Particle Physics
and Astronomy Research Council, the Canadian National Research Council, and
the Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research.

SCUBA
SCUBA (the Submillimetre Common-User Bolometer Array) is the worlds most
powerful submillimetre camera. It is attached to the James Clerk Maxwell
Telescope, and contains sensitive detectors called bolometers, which are
cooled to 60 milliKelvin, 0.06 degrees above absolute zero (60 milliKelvin
is about -273.1 Celsius, -459.6 Fahrenheit). SCUBA was built in the UK by
the Royal Observatory, Edinburgh, at what is now the UK Astronomy Technology
Centre.

PPARC
The Particle Physics and Astronomy Research Council (PPARC) is the UKs
strategic science investment agency. It funds research, education and public
understanding in four broad areas of science particle physics, astronomy,
cosmology and space science.

PPARC is government funded and provides research grants and studentships to
scientists in British universities, gives researchers access to world-class
facilities and funds the UK membership of international bodies such as the
European Organisation for Nuclear Research,

CERN, the European Southern Observatory and the European Space Agency. It
also contributes money for the UK telescopes overseas on La Palma, Hawaii,
Australia and in Chile, the UK Astronomy Technology Centre at the Royal
Observatory, Edinburgh and the MERLIN/VLBI National Facility.

CONTACTS

Eleanor Gilchrist (Mon- Wed)
PR Officer, ROE
+44 (0) 131 668 8397


Dr Mark Wyatt
Astronomer, UK ATC
+44 (0) 131 668 8318


Dr Wayne Holland
Astronomer, UK ATC
+44 (0) 131 668 8389


Julia Maddock
Press Officer, PPARC
+44 (0) 1793 442094


Douglas Pierce Price
James Clerk Maxwell Telescope
+1 808 969 6524

On 2 Dec 2003 16:04:10 GMT, (Ron Baalke)
wrote:

http://www.pparc.ac.uk/Nw/vega_planet.asp

New evidence for Solar-like planetary system around nearby star
Particle Physics and Astronomy Research Councils news release
December 1, 2003

Astronomers at the Particle Physics and Astronomy Research Councils UK
Astronomy Technology Centre (ATC) at the Royal Observatory, Edinburgh have
produced compelling new evidence that Vega, one of the brightest stars in
the sky, has a planetary system around it which is more like our own Solar
System than any other so far discovered.


I always thought Contact was a documentary..... :-)





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"Wally AngleseaT" wrote in message
...
On 2 Dec 2003 16:04:10 GMT, (Ron Baalke)
wrote:

http://www.pparc.ac.uk/Nw/vega_planet.asp

New evidence for Solar-like planetary system around nearby star
Particle Physics and Astronomy Research Councils news release
December 1, 2003

Astronomers at the Particle Physics and Astronomy Research Councils UK
Astronomy Technology Centre (ATC) at the Royal Observatory, Edinburgh
have
produced compelling new evidence that Vega, one of the brightest stars in
the sky, has a planetary system around it which is more like our own
Solar
System than any other so far discovered.


I always thought Contact was a documentary..... :-)

indeed. the first thing i thought about after reading the post was: Contact,
the movie. Sagan knew very well that Vega was very likely to have earth like
planets aroung its sun...this is intriguing...thx for posting Ron!



Find out about Australia's most dangerous Doomsday Cult:
http://users.bigpond.net.au/wanglese/pebble.htm

"You can't fool me, it's turtles all the way down."