New technology helps detect planets outside the solar system

According to US cosmologists, in the next 20 years, new technologies will allow the discovery of Earth-like planets and other forms of life in other solar systems in the Milky Way.

Margaret Turnbull, a NASA biologist, confirmed that since 1995 astronomers have discovered 212 planets outside the solar system, most of which are gas planets like Jupiter with masses. it is 4,000 to 5,000 times more massive than Earth and orbits distant stars in the Milky Way. However, twin planets with Earth are too small to detect with current instruments.

Astronomer John Trauger of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory has just invented a new technique to remove star reflections to distinguish the planet orbiting it. This technique will be tested in the next few months.

The Soyuz ship carried the Corot telescope to take off on December 27, 2006 (Photo: HTV)

"This technique is 1,000 times more effective than the techniques tested so far, " said Trauger.

According to Turnbull, European Corot and Kepler missions have a lot of potential to discover new things.

The Corot telescope was launched last December, bringing with it star-measuring instruments that allow tracing medium-sized planets similar to those in the solar system. Corot will observe 120,000 stars in the Milky Way that contain more than 400 billion stars.

At the end of 2008, the US Kepler probe fitted more sensitive instruments, replacing the Corot telescope. Its light meter will allow the discovery of an Earth-sized planet passing through a star within hours.

However, if you want to directly observe an extraterrestrial planet like Earth, wait for NASA's Terrestrial Planet Finder (TPF) to equip two super telescopes. TPF is expected to launch in 2016.

The European Space Agency also has a Darwin project for 2015. This is a collection of small space telescopes that form a powerful interferometer that enables the analysis of the atmosphere of extraterrestrial planets.

VN