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"Discovery Files" Features from the National Science Foundation
"Systematic Search"
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FROM DISTORTION, COMES CLARITY... THE "DISCOVERY FILES": NEW ADVANCES IN SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING, FROM THE NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION. ARE THERE OTHER SOLAR SYSTEMS LIKE OURS IN OUR GALAXY? THE ANSWER HAS BEEN MADE CLEAR--THANKS TO A DISTORTION WHERE ONE STAR'S GRAVITY BENDS LIGHT, KIND OF LIKE A COSMIC MAGNIFYING GLASS. IF THERE IS A PLANET, YOU WON’T BE ABLE TO SEE IT--BUT YOU WILL BE ABLE TO DETECT IT, THROUGH A PHENOMENON CALLED "MICRO-LENSING". THE TECHNIQUE HELPED AN INTERNATIONAL TEAM OF SCIENTISTS TO DISCOVER THE FIRST-EVER DIRECT EVIDENCE OF A SOLAR SYSTEM SIMILAR TO THE ONE THAT WE LIVE IN; THEY FOUND A TWO-PLANET SYSTEM WITH A SUN HALF THE SIZE OF OURS, SOME FIVE-THOUSAND LIGHT YEARS AWAY. ACCORDING TO LEAD INVESTIGATOR SCOTT GAUDI, OF OHIO STATE, ALL OF THE PLANETARY SYSTEMS THAT HAVE BEEN FOUND UP UNTIL NOW LOOKED ABSOLUTELY NOTHING LIKE OUR OWN SOLAR SYSTEM--SO THERE WAS ALWAYS THIS LINGERING DOUBT; HE THINKS THAT THE MOST-IMPORTANT THING THAT CAN BE TAKEN AWAY FROM THIS DISCOVERY IS THAT PLANETARY SYSTEMS LIKE OUR OWN ARE ACTUALLY QUITE COMMON. GAUDI ADDS THAT THIS NEW KIND OF "STAR SEARCH" IS TURNING ASTRONOMERS INTO CELESTIAL "CENSUS-TAKERS"--SINCE "MICRO-LENSING" IS REALLY GOOD AT GETTING THE COMPLETE "CENSUS" OF ALL THE PLANETS IN OUR GALAXY--ANSWERING QUESTIONS LIKE, "HOW MANY PLANETS ARE THERE? HOW BIG ARE THOSE PLANETS? WHERE ARE THEY? AND, HOW FAR ARE THEY FROM THEIR PARENT STAR?" ARE THERE STILL OTHER SYSTEMS LIKE OURS? WITH THIS NEW WAY OF "SEEING", YOU MIGHT SAY THAT YOU CAN COUNT ON IT. THE "DISCOVERY FILES" COVERS PROJECTS FUNDED BY THE GOVERNMENT'S NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION: FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH BROUGHT TO YOU BY YOU! LEARN MORE AT "N-S-F"-DOT-GOV--OR ON THEIR PODCAST.
For additional "Discovery Files" features from the National Science Foundation, click here.
