Exoplanet Ross 128b an Earthlike World?

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erlin has just been discovered!  (For those of you who are familiar with the Elite universe….Ross 128 is the system which is host to the Merlin colony, an earth-like world which actually is a moon of the gas giant Aster in the game.)  The similarity of Merlin and this discovery might be astonishing!  I certainly hope the folks at Frontier are paying attention to this news item.

 

Artist’s conception of what the exoplanet Ross 128b might look like on the surface.  (Source: CNN.com)

 

 

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More Planets Anyone?

Infographic showing how the Kepler space telescope could continue searching for planets despite two busted reaction wheels. Credit: NASA Ames/W Stenzel (Read more…)

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epler may be getting set for a resurrection of its planet-finding mission in other star systems, according to Universe Today. The space telescope whose primary mission to was catalogue planets around stars in our galaxy, visible in a particular part of the night sky was abruptly cut short this past summer when two of the wheels responsible for orienting the satellite failed, leaving its attitude control system crippled along with its primary mission.  These technical issues have also left Kepler vulnerable to budget cuts in the forthcoming 2014 budget debate which has already been the subject of a high-stakes game of political brinksmanship between U.S. lawmakers who decide how much money NASA and, ultimately, Kepler get.

A view of Kepler’s search area as seen from Earth. Credit: Carter Roberts / Eastbay Astronomical Society

Of course, while Kepler and other planet-finding missions continue with their discoveries (even if hobbled by issues of one kind or another), one question often asked about them is “where are they?”  I use a program called “Celestia” to get my answer to that question and over the past couple of years have acquired quite a bit of data pertaining to these “exoplanets” (as they’re called) and other astronomical phenomena whose coordinates and other data can be input into the application to generate a celestial map.

If you’re interested in using the data I’ve got , you can download the library from one of two sources:

• data in its original form can be individually added to tailor your copy of Celestia (which can itself be downloaded for free online) by visiting http://www.celestiamotherlode.com,
• or you can use an eMule client and use these links to access my own personal library (when my eMule client is running):
  
  • ed2k://|file|M1_crab_nebula.zip|2603953|73842E7B7ADCC43B36642486C1D50CB5|h=DYRZUFNPOGZETPWHYSCG5ROVQPYNX624|/
  • ed2k://|file|M16_EagleNebula.zip|2113714|07559DBD2EF9F034C2EEBECB7E8796D9|h=6BFNZTDSTUSALOVKBYLIS47UHL4R6JQB|/
  • ed2k://|file|M17_OmegaNebula.zip|1004756|2BBB443310C802D8394CED897108920B|h=SXF26HSQEOLT6ZDO57LVGEXUJU6UTOYB|/
  • ed2k://|file|M20_TrifidNebula.zip|1553660|B9D1F7A9FA29BD2DC551EE12EB9E1F90|h=LMR6GTB4SQ4VVWN2WB42LZP74NBY27CK|/
  • ed2k://|file|M27_DumbBellNebula.zip|646251|F1A55643307FC90CBE8C9C11C5B1C5E7|h=ZWAPXL4767WMAICSMESAEMBOSYALUJLN|/
  • ed2k://|file|M42.zip|3574718|4331E53F85E867719D2E441533967149|h=YWPMKKXY5IIM57ZAX3M5XUHADJDNJFYE|/
  • ed2k://|file|m42_ngc1977.zip|11172439|86256D4E57A5C44C6C16DDBFAC492D56|h=ZLJHBRH3GC75FBLOJEAPC5A2CIIGL5JH|/
  • ed2k://|file|M97_OwlNebula.zip|127437|ECA9F23F6CD4119A462E9E4BF8282C89|h=SVCU6ZXSWMPS5CHIZZ6SD33CRWQBRWJU|/
  • ed2k://|file|NGC6720_RingNebula.zip|1049789|FB11B620B5FA40BE48FC1BFECDA5A0E6|h=SCY2IOUWKH6GO2DM575U25JWJJCWBLP3|/
  • ed2k://|file|TrifidNebula.zip|6846142|AC4205DD7BFC0FD1FFF7D4C7EB5600AB|h=62EBTFKUVCJKW4NFXGEMLVT5S5AP2Q6Z|/

  (It’s not always guaranteed I’ll keep my exoplanet archives hosted, but at least you’ll know where to look.)

Updates to this article to follow…