ZME Science
No Result
View All Result
ZME Science
No Result
View All Result
ZME Science

Home → Space

Earth-like planet may not exist

Mihai AndreibyMihai Andrei
October 14, 2010
in Space
A A
Share on FacebookShare on TwitterSubmit to Reddit

RelatedPosts

Government officials introduce bill directing NASA to build a moon base
Just in case you didn’t know, there’s a garbage island twice as big as France in the Pacific Ocean
Three Secret Russian Satellites Moved Strangely in Orbit and Then Dropped an Unidentified Object
Genetic map of Europe

After an exciting discovery of a habitable earth-like planet, skepticism settles back in as a second team of scientists casts some doubt on the claim. Nicknamed Gliese 581 g, the planet in case stirred up the scientific world, promising to be the holy graal of exoplanets after it was discovered by Steven Vogt of the University of California, Santa Cruz, Paul Butler of the Carnegie Institution of Washington in DC, and their colleagues.
However, a second team of astronomers have looked in their own data and failed to find anything suggesting the existence of Gliese.

“We easily recover the four previously announced planets, “b”, “c”, “d”, and “e”. However, we do not see any evidence for a fifth planet in an orbit of 37 days,” said Francesco Pepe of the Geneva Observatory in Switzerland.

He presented his team’s results at the International Astronomical Union symposium in Turin, Italy. The two teams worked with data collected by HARPS, an instrument mounted on a telescope in the European Southern Observatory in Chile. Vogt and Butler’s team reached the results they did by combining 119 star velocity measurements from HARPS with 122 measurements taken with a similar instrument called HIRES (located in Hawaii). Pepe on the other hand used some extra data, and examined some 180 star velocity measurements collected by HARPS, which is significantly more than what Vogt and Butler used. So where does this leave our habitable planet ?

Gliese may or may not exist. Even though Pepe foundno evidence of it’s existence, they cannot rule out the possibility that it exists.

“We are not trying to prove the nonexistence of a planet,” Pepe says. “It’s really difficult to prove that something does not exist. We are just saying we do not see a significant signal that is really different from noise.”

This paper raises some serious questions about the discovery. Steven Vogt, who didn’t attend the astronomy symposium did not want to make any comments before he analyzes this new data. But he did tell New Scientist that he is not the least bit surprised by this turn of events.

“I am not overly surprised by this as these are very weak signals, and adding 60 points onto 119 does not necessarily translate to big gains in sensitivity,” Vogt told New Scientist.

He also confirmed the trust he has in the paper he previously published – and with good reason.

“I feel confident that we have accurately and honestly reported our uncertainties and done a thorough and responsible job extracting what information this data set has to offer,” Vogt added. “In 15 years of exoplanet hunting, with over hundreds of planets detected by our team, we have yet to publish a single false claim, retraction, or erratum.”

Tags: earth like planetearth planetexoplanetglieseResearchSpacestudy

ShareTweetShare
Mihai Andrei

Mihai Andrei

Dr. Andrei Mihai is a geophysicist and founder of ZME Science. He has a Ph.D. in geophysics and archaeology and has completed courses from prestigious universities (with programs ranging from climate and astronomy to chemistry and geology). He is passionate about making research more accessible to everyone and communicating news and features to a broad audience.

Related Posts

Astronomy

The James Webb telescope just found a planet by actually ‘seeing’ it

byMihai Andrei
4 days ago
Concept image of an icy moon.
News

The Sun Will Annihilate Earth in 5 Billion Years But Life Could Move to Jupiter’s Icy Moon Europa

byRupendra Brahambhatt
2 weeks ago
News

Physicists Say Light Can Be Made From Nothing and Now They Have the Simulation to Prove It

byTibi Puiu
3 weeks ago
Biology

China’s Tiangong space station has some bacteria that are unknown to science

byMihai Andrei
1 month ago

Recent news

great white shark

This Shark Expert Has Spent Decades Studying Attacks and Says We’ve Been Afraid for the Wrong Reasons

June 30, 2025

A Rocket Carried Cannabis Seeds and 166 Human Remains into Space But Their Capsule Never Made It Back

June 30, 2025

Ancient ‘Zombie’ Fungus Trapped in Amber Shows Mind Control Began in the Age of the Dinosaurs

June 30, 2025
  • About
  • Advertise
  • Editorial Policy
  • Privacy Policy and Terms of Use
  • How we review products
  • Contact

© 2007-2025 ZME Science - Not exactly rocket science. All Rights Reserved.

No Result
View All Result
  • Science News
  • Environment
  • Health
  • Space
  • Future
  • Features
    • Natural Sciences
    • Physics
      • Matter and Energy
      • Quantum Mechanics
      • Thermodynamics
    • Chemistry
      • Periodic Table
      • Applied Chemistry
      • Materials
      • Physical Chemistry
    • Biology
      • Anatomy
      • Biochemistry
      • Ecology
      • Genetics
      • Microbiology
      • Plants and Fungi
    • Geology and Paleontology
      • Planet Earth
      • Earth Dynamics
      • Rocks and Minerals
      • Volcanoes
      • Dinosaurs
      • Fossils
    • Animals
      • Mammals
      • Birds
      • Fish
      • Amphibians
      • Reptiles
      • Invertebrates
      • Pets
      • Conservation
      • Animal facts
    • Climate and Weather
      • Climate change
      • Weather and atmosphere
    • Health
      • Drugs
      • Diseases and Conditions
      • Human Body
      • Mind and Brain
      • Food and Nutrition
      • Wellness
    • History and Humanities
      • Anthropology
      • Archaeology
      • History
      • Economics
      • People
      • Sociology
    • Space & Astronomy
      • The Solar System
      • Sun
      • The Moon
      • Planets
      • Asteroids, meteors & comets
      • Astronomy
      • Astrophysics
      • Cosmology
      • Exoplanets & Alien Life
      • Spaceflight and Exploration
    • Technology
      • Computer Science & IT
      • Engineering
      • Inventions
      • Sustainability
      • Renewable Energy
      • Green Living
    • Culture
    • Resources
  • Videos
  • Reviews
  • About Us
    • About
    • The Team
    • Advertise
    • Contribute
    • Editorial policy
    • Privacy Policy
    • Contact

© 2007-2025 ZME Science - Not exactly rocket science. All Rights Reserved.