From This Litter Box.....

A Program Pushed Pondering The Great Beyond!

9:08 PM, Sunday, January 24, 2010 .. 0 comments .. Link

Falling back into my spaced-out mode, I found myself doing some more studies of outer space curiousities. I got started into a program last night, that discussed more details regarding exoplanets. It was a pretty good program, yet it was on later than I wanted to stay awake. So, I got some of the information, then I chose to look into the topic some more, this evening!

The program revealed that over 330 planets have been discovered that are outside of our solar system. I thought that was really cool, while chuckling, as I recalled that we are no longer claiming all of the planets within our own solar system! I remain irked about Pluto....

Anyhow. It went on to reveal details about those exoplanets which are considered to be the most extreme. Five of these planets were discussed, each of them located hundreds of light years away from our Earth. Information was revealed, giving the various sizes, orbital speeds, and alleged ages of these planets.

The planet labeled SWEEPS-10 stood out because it seems to be in a hurry! SWEEPS-10 orbits around it's host star at a rate of one time for every ten Earth hours! Think of that! As it takes our planet 365 days to get around our star, this one is racing around it's star once every 600 minutes! Imagining that it could be habitable, I do not think that anyone could stay on it without some really strong gravity in action!

Another planet that stood out is PSR B1620-26b (I do not know why it just does not have some kind of reasonable name...). This planet is one of the oldest that has been identified. It is a gas giant, and it happens to be within a curious orbital motion that involves two stars. This binary system consists of a white dwarf, and a rapidly-rotating pulsar.

As well, HD 149026 b was mentioned. This planet is HOT!!! Studies of it have shown that it's surface temperature can reach up to a searing 3,700 degrees, Fahrenheit! OUCH!!! Studying scientists believe that this heat is the result of HD 149026b absorbing the temperatures that are released by it's host star. It has been revealed to have a size a little less than Saturn, and to have a centralized weight that is roughly 80 % that of Earth.

I remain amazed by this type of information. I believe that the ideas of the universe are so fascinating, as there is so much out there, and so much that we just do not know. I do not know that we ever will have a full grasp of all that exists beyond our general realm of space, although there is so much scientific study occurring, regularly. It is fun to study along with what is revealed, as well as to imagine about the wonders that may be, deep into the great beyond!