Other Earths Can Be Found ‘Anytime Now’

The old Doppler Effect method of discovering planets only measured the velocity of the planet when gravitational pull causes the parent star to wobble as the planet orbits it. According to planet researchers, there are significant limitations to Doppler searches. Scientists assert that readings from the Doppler cannot reveal the ‘angles of inclination of the orbital planet to the line of sight.’ Without this information, the actual physical size of the planet cannot be determined. Scientists are already at the stage of detecting Venus-size planets, and will soon get to Earth-size ones.

The Anglo-Australian California and Carnegie Planet Searches (AAPS) which is the ‘world’s largest and most prolific team of planet hunters’ discovered what it calls transit searches or the technique to finally find the elusive angle of inclination.

Upon calculating the angle of inclination when a planet transits in front of its parent star, and as it passes the line of sight from Earth, scientists will be able to determine the planet’s ‘eccentricity’ or ‘how elliptical or round its orbital path is.’

David Latham of the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics believes that “It could happen almost any time now. We now have the technological capability to identify Earth-like planets around the smallest stars.”

Launched in early March, NASA’s Kepler space observatory is one such facility that is poised to likely find Earth-like planets in the vast universe. NASA has been following the dictum of ‘follow the water.’ Since water is an imperative for life, the agency is of the assumption that life-supporting planets lie on a ‘habitable zone’ or that distance from the star where it is not too hot for water to evaporate nor too cold for water to freeze.