Deserving of Our Attention: Ogle 2005

What can we learn from OGLE 2005 BLG 39lb ?

As a result of a ceaseless shift in the Milky Way and some Einsteinian physics, astronomers have had a glimpse of a planet that we had not seen before…

In many ways, it is the most like ours, an ice-rock planet unlike the gaseous giants that seem to dominate our own universe. This planet is only about five times as dense as our own and circles its own dim reddish star about 234 million miles away.

We may have much to learn from OGLE 2005 BLG 39lb. However, before you sign on for the voyage of discovery, you should be aware that this planet is 21,000 light years from earth—meaning that if we were to travel at the speed of light, 186,000 miles per second, it would still us 42,000 years to complete the journey! Not exactly small potatoes if
you only get a two week vacation…

What this discovery tells us is that in the universe, a good argument can be made that ice rock planets resembling Earth may be more common than gas giants, an encouraging milestone on our continuing search for life…

The discovery team was headed up by Jean-Philippe Becaulier of the Institut’ d’ Astrophysique de Paris. Report by: Les Aaron