32 New Planets Found

[Mr. Pedantic]

8 times the size of Jupiter? Thats almost the size of the sun. Damn.

Not really. While the sun is about 10 Jupiter radii, it's also about 1000 Jupiter masses, whereas this new planet is 8 Jupiter masses (not close by a long shot). And when astrophysicists talk about stars, it's the mass that counts in determining whether it's a star or not, because that the thing that counts when determining whether a body has the required conditions to initiate fusion. And the new planet is still just a planet, i.e. it's not large enough to constitute a brown dwarf.

[NiteStryker]

Well its roughly the size of, not the mass. And its probably all gas. I wonder what the pressure is.

I wonder how big the largest solid planet we have found is.

[Mr. Pedantic]

Well its roughly the size of, not the mass. And its probably all gas. I wonder what the pressure is.

Originally Posted by article

The largest newly discovered exoplanet is a monster at seven to eight times Jupiter's mass, he estimated.

They are vastly different concepts. 8 times the mass means, at exactly the same density, twice the size.

[NiteStryker]

Originally Posted by Mr. Pedantic

They are vastly different concepts. 8 times the mass means, at exactly the same density, twice the size.

Oh I read it wrong.

[Syyrax]

Wasn't it said that in a few hundred years, Venus would be inhabitable due to the possible decline of the temperature and atmospheric toxins? I might be wrong, but I could of sworn I heard that somewhere. I could also be talking about the wrong planet as well.

[crisissuit3]

venus? its the second closest planet to the son. I doubt we would want to settle there if its so hot here.

[Syyrax]

Originally Posted by crisissuit3

venus? its the second closest planet to the son. I doubt we would want to settle there if its so hot here.

Hmm, then it might of been a different planet.

[Mr. Pedantic]

Wasn't it said that in a few hundred years, Venus would be inhabitable due to the possible decline of the temperature and atmospheric toxins? I might be wrong, but I could of sworn I heard that somewhere. I could also be talking about the wrong planet as well.

Different planet, probably.

venus? its the second closest planet to the son. I doubt we would want to settle there if its so hot here.

If (and it's a very big if) we could ever remove carbon dioxide and other significant greenhouse gases completely from the surface of Venus, and reduce its temperature, then its climate would be quite similar to that of Earth. Maybe slightly hotter, but not much.

[crisissuit3]

This calls for the powers of SCIENCE!!

But little hot? Isn't it suppose to be like a couple thousand miles closer to the son (I may be overshooting it but w/e) So I believe its suppose to be a lot hotter.

[Mr. Pedantic]

But little hot? Isn't it suppose to be like a couple thousand miles closer to the son (I may be overshooting it but w/e) So I believe its suppose to be a lot hotter.

Yes. I mean what I said. Remember the Earth is the subject of a fairly substantial greenhouse effect to, which is partly the reason why day/night temperatures are so close (for comparison, the moon has a range of well over 200C between day and night sides). So I figure that if you take away almost all that greenhouse gas, then you would be fairly close. Of course, you'd freeze to death during night, but since Venus days are 240-odd Earth days long, I don't think that'd be such a hassle as if you had to prepare for that every 12 hours. Kind of like living in Antarctica, but a bit warmer...

Of course, this is only an assumption, but plausible (I think).