Astronomy 1021 Chapter Notes - Chapter 10: Gliese 876, 2M1207, Terrestrial Planet
16 Aug 2016
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The right temperature: not too hot not too cold. Liquid water on the surface of the planet. A medium for life to live in/ to transport things in o. Big enough size of a rocky planet. Extrasolar planet- a planet that is not orbiting the sun (exoplanet) When naming them, we place a lowercase letter after the star name. Lettered in term of when they are discovered o o. b for the first planet found, c for the second . Gliese 876 d is closer to the star than gliese 876 b; distance to the star doesn"t matter with the letter. Direct methods- obtaining an image/spectrum of the planet directly. Indirect methods- establishing the presence of a planet by its effect on the star. Very difficult: stars are far away, angular separation very small o. But sun is about a billion times brighter than jupiter. Planets are much fainter: major glare of starlight interfering.
