SMALLER PLANETS RULE THE GALAXY

[jayfish]

http://news.discovery.com/space/smaller-planets-rule-the-galaxy.html

Kepler is opening a completely new vault: collecting a survey sample of small planets that transit their stars. The Kepler results show that there are lots and lots of smaller worlds, ranging in mass from the size of Neptune down to “super-Earths” which are just a few Earth masses.

This is an encouraging major step along the Yellow Brick Road to the ultimate destination: an Earth mass planet in the habitable zone of a sun-like star. That payoff is at least two years away because a true Earth analog would only transit its star once a year. Several annual transit observations are needed to provide convincing evidence that a suspected Earth analog has really been found.

The Golden age of astronomy is upon us. Current and next generation instruments are beginning to render what we think we know about the universe as quaint.

FSH