A New Planet was Discovered - Or Not!
by Lucy Ji, age 16
Recently,
scientists of the University at Geneva declared the finding of a planet
orbiting Alpha Centauri B, our sun’s nearest neighbor. The planet has a mass
similar to Earth’s, a key feature vital for human survival. Although the planet
is much too close to its sun to sustain life, it gives astronomers and space
junkies alike hope that there are more planets near it that fit the
requirements to host living things. A closer analysis of this mystery planet,
however, is causing scientists to question its existence.
According
to an article written by Artie P. Hatzes, the director of the Thuringian State
Observatory in Tautenburg, Germany, “Sometimes [the planet] is there, other
times not,” depending on the methods used to analyze the data.
Although his analysis has no conclusive results in
either direction, based on Hatzes’ previous experiences with mystery planets
like this one, “this simply does not ‘smell’ like a real planet.”
Other
scientists agree with Hatzes’s findings, including Suzanne Aigrain of Oxford
University. She quoted Carl
Sagan’s dictum that extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence,
agreeing that, “Dr. Hatzes’s writings certainly cast a doubt on the original
evidence.”
Xavier
Dumusque, leader of the original discovery, welcomes the challenge, and agrees,
“the signal we are searching for is at the limit of the data precision.” This
means the finding can only be verified after obtaining more data. The Kepler
Satellite, NASA’s planet-hunting machine, lost its pointing capabilities back
in May, but scientists plan on making more observations once it is up and
running again.
Other
planet astronomers are still bickering over is the existence of Gliese 581g,
which was found in 2010. Considered a “Goldilocks” planet, or a planet not too
hot or cold to sustain life, scientists were sure this was the perfect planet
for humans to settle. Three years later, they still are unsure if the planet
actually exists.
Unfortunately,
the prospect of an Earth-like home away from home may be further away than
optimistic astronomers want to believe. Scientists are finding just how devilishly important each minute detail
is.
[Source:
Space Science
]
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