AllThingsD » solar system

Kepler 22-B: Earth 2.0 for Future Facebook Friending?

Kara Swisher — Tue, 06 Dec 2011 14:04:31 +0000

Late yesterday, NASA announced the discovery of a planet just outside our solar system that is the most like Earth to be found so far.

Located using the Kepler universe-trotting telescope, the planet that has been named the poetic Kepler 22-b is a balmy 72 degrees.

That’s because it is in a habitable “Goldilocks” zone (see chart below) and seems to circle a sun much like our own.

Yes, I am hoping this Earth 2.0 is just like Counter-Earth from the comics, too.

But, at more than twice the size of Earth, it is likely all ocean and rock and gas at this point, and is more than 600 light years away. So, if any geek is planning a star trek, it will take a lot of rocket fuel.

(Photos courtesy of NASA)

Viral Video: "Another Earth" (Another Life?)

Kara Swisher — Wed, 27 Apr 2011 07:37:35 +0000

For anyone who loves the idea of a doppelgänger–someone out there who is you except different–this trailer for much-anticipated indie film, “Another Earth,” is for you.

It’s about astrophysics and accidents and aliens and alienation, on the occasion of the “discovery of a duplicate planet in the solar system.”

Deep stuff!

Here’s the moving movie trailer:

Solar Module Prices to Drop 20 Percent in '09, UBS Says

Eric Savitz — Mon, 11 Aug 2008 20:16:28 +0000

Sunshine is free. Solar modules are not. But they are getting cheaper: UBS analyst Stephen Chin today revised his forecast for solar module pricing to down 20 percent from a previous estimate of down 14 percent. Chin says the recent move by the government in Spain to cap its solar subsidy program will move solar module volumes to other markets, including Germany and Japan, where lower pricing is required to generate favorable returns for solar system buyers. The revised Spanish solar subsidy program will cut installations in Spain to 300MW next year, from an estimated 1.2GW this year.

Chin today cut EPS estimates by about 10 percent for 13 global solar companies, including SunPower (SPWR), Evergreen Solar (ESLR), LDK (LDK), Suntech (STP), Yingli (YGE), Q-Cells, Solarworld, REC, Conergy, Solon, Motech, E-Ton and Sino-American Silicon. He also cut his rating on SunPower to Neutral from Buy, while increasing his rating on Energy Conversion Devices (ENER) to Buy from Neutral.

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Celestial Plutoids? Shoulda Used Preparation P

John Paczkowski — Thu, 12 Jun 2008 18:05:51 +0000

Scientifically, there really is no question [that Pluto should be reclassified]. Either Pluto is not a planet, or many other things are planets. Which is a better choice? I want my planets to be more special, not less special, so I favor Pluto not being a planet.”

–California Institute of Technology astronomer Michael Brown, 2004

Delisted from the pantheon of celestial bodies back in 2006 for its weaker than expected planethood, and then pronounced second best to Eris, its recently discovered neighbor, Pluto is no longer the solar system’s bastard stepchild. Yesterday, the International Astronomical Union, which struck Pluto from the planetary rolls, decreed that all “transneptunian dwarf planets similar to Pluto” will henceforth be called “Plutoids.” Pluto shares the designation with Eris, the only other … non-planet to meet the IAU’s criteria for Plutoidenism.

The IAU clearly views the new classification as an honor for the humbled Pluto, but to Plutevangelists it’s just one more insult. “It’s just some people in a smoke-filled room who dreamed it up,” Alan Stern, a former NASA space sciences chief and principal investigator on a mission to Pluto, told the Associated Press. “Plutoids or hemorrhoids, whatever they call it. This is irrelevant.”