A satellite will scour the Milky Way for exoplanets orbiting stars just like the sun
After sending robots to the Moon, landing them on Mars and building its own space station, China is now eyeing distant solar systems. This month, scientists will release detailed plans for the country’s first mission to discover exoplanets.
With current technology and telescopes, it is extremely hard to find the signal of small, Earth-like planets when their host stars are one million times heavier and one billion times brighter, says Jessie Christiansen, an astrophysicist at the NASA Exoplanet Science Institute at California Institute of Technology in Pasadena.
The telescopes will look for exoplanets by detecting small changes in a star’s brightness that indicate that a planet has passed in front of it. Using multiple small telescopes together gives scientists a wider field of view than a single, large telescope such as Kepler. Earth 2.0’s 6 telescopes will together stare at about 1.2 million stars across a 500-square-degree patch of sky, which is about 5 times wider than Kepler’s view was. At the same time, Earth 2.
“Our satellite can essentially conduct a census that identifies exoplanets of different sizes, masses and ages. The mission will provide a good collection of exoplanet samples for future research,” he says.
Canada Latest News, Canada Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
China is hatching a plan to find Earth 2.0China is planning its first space mission to survey the skies for Earth-like exoplanets
Read more »
In the Long Term, China Will “Eclipse” Today’s Russia Crisis, U.S. Trade Czar Says'We can’t just sit around and wait for China to decide to change when it’s ready to,' says AmbassadorTai, whose talks with the country have become more complicated in the wake of Putin's invasion of Ukraine. 'We have to start doing things differently.'
Read more »
China bill could ease supply chain issues causing inflation, help US compete in 'dangerous world': KhannaRep. Ro Khanna told Fox News that the China competition bill Congress is working on could address supply chain issues causing inflation.
Read more »
China secured $120 million in contracts with US universities in 2021, records showChinese institutions, including the Chinese government, secured $120 million in contracts with more than two dozen US universities in 2021.
Read more »
China Censors Dialogue About Dumbledore's Gay Romance In 'Fantastic Beasts 3'Warner Bros., the studio behind the 'Harry Potter' spin-off sequel, said that the 'spirit of the film remains intact.'
Read more »
Why should Arizona desecrate sacred lands just to send copper to China?Opinion: It's twisted logic to argue that the proposed Resolution Copper mine would help fill America's needs when most of the copper would likely go to China.
Read more »