Ultra-Sensitive Camera To Measure Exoplanet Sizes 62
Roland Piquepaille writes "US astronomers and engineers have built a new camera to precisely measure the size of planets moving around distant stars. This camera has been dubbed OPTIC — short for 'Orthogonal Parallel Transfer Imaging Camera.' According to the research team, it is 'so sensitive that it could detect the passage of a moth in front of a lit window from a distance of 1,000 miles.' I'm not sure if this analogy is right, but the team said it was able to precisely define the size of a planet called WASP-10b which is orbiting around the star WASP-10, about 300 light-years from Earth."
Re:Split infinitives are perfectly legal (Score:5, Insightful)
And dear Grammar Nazis, take note that the object of language is communication. Shakespeare (perchance, fairly highly regarded for his vocabulary and poetry) made up new words and rules all the time. It's fun being creative with words.
If the grammar, spelling or sentence structure makes a passage unintelligible, then it's sometimes fine to point that out. Otherwise... shut the fuck up. Go bully people on Wikipedia like you normally do -- there you'll be very welcome.
Re:doesn't sound very impressive (Score:1, Insightful)
What's news isn't the technical specs of the new camera but the application for which it was developed and its effectiveness in that application. Do you know any other cameras that can precisely measure planet-sized objects 300 light years away?
Re:Equivalent of a moth at 300ly? (Score:3, Insightful)
Bad interpretation. They are taking about change in intensity of light.
A moth flying in front of a window.
A window is say 3'x4' = 12 sq ft = 1728 sq in.
Moth is 2" wide, 1" tall triangle = 1 sq in.
change in intensity = 1/1728 = .06%
If the star is size of sun, size of planet .24/100 * 1.4e6 km = 3367 km
= sqrt(.06%)
= 0.24% in diameter compared to star
=
Re:Objects may be closer than they appear (Score:3, Insightful)
I think I have a fanboi, following me around and modding my posts down. He might have started off as an Anonymous Coward making comments, but that was making him look bad so he's retreated to truly anonymous moderating. Isn't anonymity just a wonderful precious thing?