T O P I C R E V I E W |
PJK |
Posted - 09/20/2006 : 06:13:56 AM Hey Fluffy, here's a planet just for you!
Astronomers Find Distant, Fluffy Planet WASHINGTON (Sept. 14) - The largest planet ever found orbiting another star is so puffy it would float on water, astronomers said Thursday. The newly discovered planet, dubbed HAT-P-1, is both the largest and least dense of the nearly 200 worlds astronomers have found outside our own solar system. David A. Aguilar, Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics / AP Astronomers say HAT-P-1, which is about 450 light-years from Earth, is so puffy it would float on water. HAT-P-1 orbits one of a pair of stars in the constellation Lacerta, about 450 light-years from Earth.
"This new planet, if you could imagine putting it in a cosmic water glass, it would float," said Robert Noyes, a research astrophysicist with the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory. The planet, a gas giant, is probably a puffed up ball of hydrogen and helium.
HAT-P-1 is an oddball planet, since it orbits its parent star at just one-twentieth of the distance that separates Earth from our own sun. While Earth takes a year to orbit the sun, the newly found planet whips around its star once every 4.5 days.
Astronomers believe HAT-P-1 may belong to an entirely new class of planets, along with a second, smaller distant world that's also puffier than theories would have predicted, Noyes said.
Astronomers used a network of telescopes in Arizona and Hawaii to discover the planet. Its parent star is too faint to see with the naked eye but can be spied with binoculars
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11 L A T E S T R E P L I E S (Newest First) |
Arthen |
Posted - 11/01/2006 : 9:03:20 PM quote: Originally posted by Fluffy
Ohhh how I long for the good old daze on the Fluffy Planet!!!!
You're really like our Superman. You've sacrificed your previous life to be among us and to save us from ourselves. Bless you Fluff-Man. |
Fluffy |
Posted - 11/01/2006 : 5:48:52 PM Ohhh how I long for the good old daze on the Fluffy Planet!!!! |
Fluffy |
Posted - 09/22/2006 : 07:47:51 AM Dammit!!! I have been found out. My goal of world domination is now going to be much harder as I will now be labeled an ILLEGAL ALIEN and we know what that means these daze. I'm screwed. I guess it's back to my MARSHMALLOW planet for me. And then there were NONE! |
tericee |
Posted - 09/21/2006 : 02:57:29 AM quote: Originally posted by PJK
Hey Fluffy, here's a planet just for you!
Way cool!!! |
Ranting Thespian |
Posted - 09/20/2006 : 11:24:03 PM They are only invisible to us. Why do you think Tim has those special glasses. Plus, they are under this universe in the Parallel Universe, so they are under us, but in that universe they are equal!
Come on man, didn't you take SMWPS (Stupid Mad People With Problems School,pronouced Smawaps) like the rest of us? |
Arthen |
Posted - 09/20/2006 : 10:43:27 PM quote: Originally posted by Ranting Thespian
quote: Originally posted by Arthen
Ah ha ha ha! That's awesome Pam. That explains Fluffy, now we need to find the Tim Reynolds Planet!
Nah, Tim is from a Parallel Universe where people live on Dogs in a vast giant desert with flying saucers throwing coke bottles down to confuse people.
. . . oh, and all the chocolate you can eat.
You mean Invisible Pagan Underdogs... |
Ranting Thespian |
Posted - 09/20/2006 : 9:33:16 PM quote: Originally posted by Arthen
Ah ha ha ha! That's awesome Pam. That explains Fluffy, now we need to find the Tim Reynolds Planet!
Nah, Tim is from a Parallel Universe where people live on Dogs in a vast giant desert with flying saucers throwing coke bottles down to confuse people.
. . . oh, and all the chocolate you can eat. |
Ranting Thespian |
Posted - 09/20/2006 : 9:30:38 PM One small step for man, one giant Fluffy Puff Marshmellow for Centner. |
Robin |
Posted - 09/20/2006 : 4:42:38 PM [quote]Originally posted by PJK While Earth takes a year to orbit the sun, the newly found planet whips around its star once every 4.5 days.
Go Fluffy!!! |
jsemon2 |
Posted - 09/20/2006 : 3:10:39 PM how long before TR gets word of this and makes a song about it? |
Arthen |
Posted - 09/20/2006 : 12:58:51 PM Ah ha ha ha! That's awesome Pam. That explains Fluffy, now we need to find the Tim Reynolds Planet! |