ysabetwordsmith | Exoplanets

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This article talks about common types of exoplanets discovered, and why those are probably not the most common planets, just the easiest to find.

I'll throw in another reason not mentioned there: we're finding a lot of super-Earths, but it is more likely to have lots of little planets in a solar system. That's because it takes less mass, so each of them consumes a smaller amount of available resources, leaving plenty for other planets to form. You're more likely to see just a few big planets farther out, where they have time and room to sweep up lots of material without bashing into anything, and less likely to have it blown away by solar winds. More small things: fewer large things is a robust pattern throughout nature.

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Crossposts: https://ysabetwordsmith.livejournal.com/6518937.html

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From:

dewline

I knew about the "Strange Maps" column, and "Starts With a Bang" looks like something I want to also keep an eye on. Thanks for this!

From:

ysabetwordsmith

Big Think is one of my go-to sources for articles worth talking about. Sometimes people just go 'that's cool' but occasionally detailed discussions break out. I love deep topics.

From:

dewline

I went and looked at NASA's Exoplanet Catalogue. Currently, they list 52 exoplanets within 20 lightyears of Sol.

(Wishing you could dig through exoplanet.eu and get that kind of info.)

This is the kind of thing that CHEOPS and COROT are looking to expand the info on, isn't it? I'd imagine those two missions in particular, along with Gaia and JWST, are going to fill in some of those data gaps you bring up here.

From:

ysabetwordsmith

Honestly, I want to rig up something with decent sublight speed and aim for Alpha Centauri. It's our nearest neighbor and has exoplanets.

From: (Anonymous)

Aim multiples of the scanning stuff. More data if they all survive, more likely that at least one will make it there.

From:

ysabetwordsmith

I agree that would be a good plan. Affordability could be a limitation, though.

*ponder* One good approach would be to coordinate a swarm of probes, with each country building one. A rich country could build a more elaborate one, and poorer countries could build simpler ones or team up to build a fancier one together. It would let everyone participate and create enough fault tolerance that something ought to get through.

Hmm, that'd make a good hard science fiction novel, laying out that project.