Ocean Planets on the Brink of Detection

ZonkerWilliam writes "It seems, at least theoretically, that there may be 'ocean planets' out there in the galaxy. If there are, we are closer than ever to detecting them. The formation of such planets is fairly likely, reports the PhysOrg article, despite the lack of an obvious example in our own solar system. We may have a former ocean planetoid in the neighborhood, orbiting the planet Jupiter: the moon Europa. These water worlds are the result of system formation castoffs, gas giant wannabes that never grew large enough. If any of these intriguing object exist nearby, the recently launched CoRoT satellite will be the device we use to see it. The article explains some of the science behind 'ocean worlds', as well as the new technology we'll use to find them."

Nitpick

[whisper_jeff]

...we are closer than ever to detecting them.

I know it's a nitpick, but of course we're closer than ever to detecting them. Guess what, we're closer to detecting them now than when you began reading this reply (by a couple seconds, but still closer).

Re:On these planets

[AKAImBatman]

You really have to feel sorry for poor Quayle. He was (*is*) actually an intelligent fellow. He just can't speak in public to save his life.

In this particular speech, he meant to say that where there's water, there's oxygen to be extracted. In this, he's quite correct. It would take a significant amount of energy, but it's perfectly feasible to extract breathable oxygen from water on Mars.

It's just the way he put it that's outright hilareous. :)

Re:One example

[Anonymous Coward]

No the article is talking about plants composed of 50% Rock %50 water by weight with an average depth of the water around 100 km, not entire orbs of floating water.

The earth doesn't qualify as an ocean planet because it is composed of only 1 part water which covers 3/4 of the earths surface and we do not have an average of 100 km depth the Mariana Trench is only 10.91100 kilometers deep which is believed to be the deepest point in all the Oceans on Earth.

The real breakthrough is resolving power

[heroine]

Corot sounds like another space based IR telescope with an incrementally better mechanism to reject glare. The output is going to be an intensity graph over time, with small dips from planetary transits, the same thing we've been doing for many years.

The real breakthrough is when we finally have enough magnification and resolving power to see living things on other planets. The great barrier reef is a living thing that can be resolved from beyond Mars orbit with today's technology. The first extrasolar life we see is going to be something like a great barrier reef.

The trick is going to be making a telescope the size of the solar system. The mission is probably going to use 2 Hubble size telescopes on opposite sides of Mars orbit, with incredible magnification well beyond the diffraction limit of each telescope, and the highly diffracted images from both telescopes being combined in software to produce a corrected image with a virtual aperture the size of Mars orbit. Only with that kind of mission are you going to "detect" habitable, extrasolar planets.

Re:Definition please!

[ratsnapple tea]

Maybe they wouldn't have sent your job overseas if you had basic literacy in English, like knowing the definition of "tautology."