The USQ team on hunt for new Earth
MANY have discussed the potential for life on Mars, but now a group of University of Southern Queensland researchers is looking further afield in the search for habitable planets.
The team of scientists, using the MINERVA-Australis facility in Darling Downs, is at the forefront of finding new planets orbiting distant stars guiding the search for a new Earth.
USQ astrophysics professor Jonathan Horner said the discovery process was intricate.
“The new facility allows us to measure the brightness of the star, and also its spectrum,” Dr Horner said.
“When a planet moves between the earth and the star we are mapping, it causes a disruption to the light emitted - ultimately dimming the star by blocking it.
“The bigger the planet it the more light it blocks and therefore the bigger the dip and this is how we measure the size of the planet.”
From there, the researchers determine the planet’s mass and structure.
“If we can measure the wobble of the star as the planet goes around it we can also work out the mass of a planet - the more mass of the planet the more it pulls the star around,” he said.
“And that gives us a density which means we can work out what the planet is made of.
“We have found planets that are less dense than candy floss and others that are more than osmium, the densest of all elements.”
He said although the research had made major headway, there was no reason for people to pack their bags yet.
“The caveat is we haven’t found anything like the earth yet, but we are getting there,” Dr Horner said.
When it came to other life in the universe, the professor said he believed we were not alone.
“When it comes to other life out there - I’d say there probably isn’t any on the planets we have seen so far,” he said.
“However, seeing as the galaxy contains 400 billion stars, all with their own planets, the likelihood is high however the real question is whether it will be close enough to us to detect it.”