Freethought & Rationalism Archive

07-09-2003, 06:26 AM

We've always said, "there must be another planet like earth somewhere in the universe." And now they have seen just such a planet.

If there's another earth--then there might be other forms of life.
How exciting!!

Arken · 07-09-2003, 06:28 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by Laci
We've always said, "there must be another planet like earth somewhere in the universe." And now they have seen just such a planet.

If there's another earth--then there might be other forms of life.
How exciting!!

They have? They who? Where? When? How? Some more information please.

Godless Dave · 07-09-2003, 06:35 AM

Have a link to a news story? I'd like to know how they detected such a small planet around another star.

07-09-2003, 06:42 AM

Let me rephrase what I wrote:

In general, people have said, since the universe is endless, there has to another solar system with another planet similar to earth.

If you say, what people. The answer is the general population.

Godless Dave · 07-09-2003, 06:53 AM

Huh?

Tom Sawyer · 07-09-2003, 07:09 AM

They found a planet similar to Jupiter orbiting a star similar to ours, so they speculated that that there might be smaller, inner planets similar to Earth in that solar system.

Link

As far as I'm aware, no one has ever found a planet smaller than a gas giant anywhere

abe smith · 07-09-2003, 07:24 AM

also, somewhere within the past 4,5 days; almost-certainly (in print, the only way I receive information) in the daily Boston Globe, or in Tuesday NYT. (I could go look it up.)
The possibility, or likelihood, seems very reasonable to me; based on my standard Ol'Biologist's axiom, that if there is ONE instance of any entity or event or what-have-you, there is almost certain to be/to have been OTHER instances of that-sort-of-thing.
A corollary of "Nothing is (probably) unique" (an argument AGAINST "god");
and what???? is that Axiom of Isaac Azimov's I am groping-for just out of mind's eyeshot? = Something-about uh, "random events are more likely to occur than not."? This conjunction makes sense ta ME; but may be hard to justify, much less demonstrate. (eh.... Stephen Maturin?) Abe PS: Of COURSE it's not true that I receive information "only in print"! What nonsense.
Godless Dave? I believe that one of the ways by which the presence of not-otherwise-visible heavenly-bodies is detected is when they intervene (as they move) so as to interrupt e.g. the light we perceive visible to us from other stars etc. This may be how we know that the planet Pluto, or Neptune? is there?

Godless Dave · 07-09-2003, 07:29 AM

I had thought the only way they had of detecting planets outside our solar system was by observing the gravitational effects of a large planet's mass on its sun, and they can get further information from spectrometry. But I don't think there is any way yet of detecting earth-size planets. I could be wrong though.

Abe, I think the existences of Neptune and Pluto were postulated by orbital calculations, and confirmed with direct observation.

Someone more knowledgeable please correct me if I'm wrong?

Godless Dave · 07-09-2003, 07:32 AM

I'm guessing maybe Laci meant to post this in this thread. If that's the case, the "they" I was asking about was the "they" who you said had discovered an earth-sized planet outside the solar system That would be a big story but I haven't heard anything about it. So I was asking for a link.

Rhaedas · 07-09-2003, 07:38 AM

We can detect larger bodies orbiting stars by either the wobble it causes to the main star, or in much rarer situations by its passing in front of the star relative to us, blocking some of the light. Both methods are indirect evidence, and both methods only work for larger bodies...I don't think any of the planets we've detected are even as small as Jupiter yet.

But I have no doubt there's other worlds out there with some type of thing we'd classify as life, although it wouldn't be the same as here on earth, even with all the possibilities.

What would nail the possibility for me is if we find life on Mars, Europa, or Titan that is totally unrelated to our life. It could go either way when you're talking about the possibility of life based on one occurrance in our solar system, but if life begins in multiple places just in our small part of the galaxy, there's no reason not to believe there are many other places it would start.

And if you're a theist it shouldn't matter either, because unless you're stuck on the geocentric viewpoint of the bible, why would a god make such an immense universe, and just populate one minor planet? Seems a waste...

07-09-2003, 06:26 AM	#1
Laci Guest Posts: n/a	Another Earth? We've always said, "there must be another planet like earth somewhere in the universe." And now they have seen just such a planet. If there's another earth--then there might be other forms of life. How exciting!!

07-09-2003, 06:42 AM	#4
Laci Guest Posts: n/a	okay, smart alec Let me rephrase what I wrote: In general, people have said, since the universe is endless, there has to another solar system with another planet similar to earth. If you say, what people. The answer is the general population.

07-09-2003, 07:24 AM	#7
abe smith Veteran Member Join Date: Apr 2001 Location: springfield, MA. USA Posts: 2,482	Yeh, I saw that.... also, somewhere within the past 4,5 days; almost-certainly (in print, the only way I receive information) in the daily Boston Globe, or in Tuesday NYT. (I could go look it up.) The possibility, or likelihood, seems very reasonable to me; based on my standard Ol'Biologist's axiom, that if there is ONE instance of any entity or event or what-have-you, there is almost certain to be/to have been OTHER instances of that-sort-of-thing. A corollary of "Nothing is (probably) unique" (an argument AGAINST "god"); and what???? is that Axiom of Isaac Azimov's I am groping-for just out of mind's eyeshot? = Something-about uh, "random events are more likely to occur than not."? This conjunction makes sense ta ME; but may be hard to justify, much less demonstrate. (eh.... Stephen Maturin?) Abe PS: Of COURSE it's not true that I receive information "only in print"! What nonsense. Godless Dave? I believe that one of the ways by which the presence of not-otherwise-visible heavenly-bodies is detected is when they intervene (as they move) so as to interrupt e.g. the light we perceive visible to us from other stars etc. This may be how we know that the planet Pluto, or Neptune? is there?

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07-09-2003, 06:35 AM	#3
Godless Dave Contributor Join Date: Feb 2002 Location: With 10,000 lakes who needs a coast? Posts: 10,762	Have a link to a news story? I'd like to know how they detected such a small planet around another star.

07-09-2003, 06:53 AM	#5
Godless Dave Contributor Join Date: Feb 2002 Location: With 10,000 lakes who needs a coast? Posts: 10,762	Huh?

07-09-2003, 07:09 AM	#6
Tom Sawyer Talk Freethought Staff Join Date: Jun 2002 Location: Toronto, eh Posts: 42,293	They found a planet similar to Jupiter orbiting a star similar to ours, so they speculated that that there might be smaller, inner planets similar to Earth in that solar system. Link As far as I'm aware, no one has ever found a planet smaller than a gas giant anywhere

07-09-2003, 07:29 AM	#8
Godless Dave Contributor Join Date: Feb 2002 Location: With 10,000 lakes who needs a coast? Posts: 10,762	I had thought the only way they had of detecting planets outside our solar system was by observing the gravitational effects of a large planet's mass on its sun, and they can get further information from spectrometry. But I don't think there is any way yet of detecting earth-size planets. I could be wrong though. Abe, I think the existences of Neptune and Pluto were postulated by orbital calculations, and confirmed with direct observation. Someone more knowledgeable please correct me if I'm wrong?

07-09-2003, 07:32 AM	#9
Godless Dave Contributor Join Date: Feb 2002 Location: With 10,000 lakes who needs a coast? Posts: 10,762	I'm guessing maybe Laci meant to post this in this thread. If that's the case, the "they" I was asking about was the "they" who you said had discovered an earth-sized planet outside the solar system That would be a big story but I haven't heard anything about it. So I was asking for a link.

07-09-2003, 07:38 AM	#10
Rhaedas Veteran Member Join Date: Mar 2003 Location: USA Posts: 3,440	We can detect larger bodies orbiting stars by either the wobble it causes to the main star, or in much rarer situations by its passing in front of the star relative to us, blocking some of the light. Both methods are indirect evidence, and both methods only work for larger bodies...I don't think any of the planets we've detected are even as small as Jupiter yet. But I have no doubt there's other worlds out there with some type of thing we'd classify as life, although it wouldn't be the same as here on earth, even with all the possibilities. What would nail the possibility for me is if we find life on Mars, Europa, or Titan that is totally unrelated to our life. It could go either way when you're talking about the possibility of life based on one occurrance in our solar system, but if life begins in multiple places just in our small part of the galaxy, there's no reason not to believe there are many other places it would start. And if you're a theist it shouldn't matter either, because unless you're stuck on the geocentric viewpoint of the bible, why would a god make such an immense universe, and just populate one minor planet? Seems a waste...

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