[LINK] Three space science links

[rfmcdonald]

• The first link from Centauri Dreams describes how astronomers have found fairly Earth-like planets orbiting fairly close Sun-like stars, 61 Virginis (Wikipedia, Sol Station) and HD 1461, and what might be a Sun-like planetary system at 23 Librae. It's only a matter of time until a truly Earth-like world is found, and it may be found from the ground or from space.


• The second Centauri Dreams link considers whether or not astronomers could detect Earth-like moons of gas giants. The answer, unsurprisingly, is that they can, and that it would be easier to detect these moons orbiting gas giants in the habitable zones of dim red dwarf stars.


• Finally, Will Baird links to reports that astronomers have located two brown dwarfs--objects caught in the gap between Jupiter-like worlds and very dim stars orbiting a very young and massive star nearing the end of its life. If planets can form in the relatively short time that a large star will remain stable, they may be able to form anywhere.

I'm amazed by the speed with which astronomers are building up a detailed map of our interstellar neighbourhood. To think that, once upon a time, science-fiction writers imagined that starships would have to venture to nearby stars to see what worlds could be found there. It now looks like, if anything, any such starships would just be doing follow-up work, filling in the details.