Tag Archives: x-planets

X-treme astronomy: Go behind-the-scenes of The X-Planets on April 18

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In this day and age, it seems like everyone is trying to add some excitement to their lives. Now that we no longer have animals trying to hunt us and have enough infrastructure that one bad harvest won’t wipe us out, we’re looking for something to spend our excess energy on. People have taken to jumping off bridges with giant rubber bands, getting charged by bulls and jumping out of the way, or even eating fugu every chance they can.

Some of us less adventurous (and less crazy) folks have other ideas about how to heighten the adrenaline we get out of our hobbies. One of the more superficial ways to do this is to just add the word “extreme” (or, if we are hardcore enough, we might leave out the e and be “x-treme”).  It started out with extreme sports. Then it went to x-treme makeovers and weight loss.  And now, it has passed on to x-treme couponing. I expect x-treme snail fighting will be coming along some time soon.

While we could put the x-treme in front of astronomy to make it even more exciting, astronomy beat us to it with an “X” of its own: Extrasolar planets (called exoplanets or x-planets for short).

X-Planets: Now Playing at the Burke Baker Planetarium

An x-planet is a planet outside our sun system. Once thought to be purely fiction, there are over 860 such identified planets (and by the time you read this, the number will have gone up). The first definitive finding of an x-planet was in April of 1992 in orbit of PSR B1257+12. (Unfortunately there are a lot of stars out there without names and only unwieldy catalog numbers.) The first multiple planetary system was found in 1999, in the Upsilon Andromedae star system — only 44 light years away.

But the search is still on for other habitable planets. Alpha Centauri has a planet the right size, but far too hot. OGLE-2005-BLG-390Lb (try pronouncing it, it’s a fun series of sounds) is larger than our planet, but too cold to support life. We have yet to find one that’s just right.  When we do, it will still be a long drive to check and see if we have some neighbors.

Until then, the best way to experience what an “alien world” might be like is the X-Planet show in the HMNS Burke Baker Planetarium. And what better way to experience it than after-hours with the creators of the show, Dr. Carolyn Sumners and Adam Barnes?

Explore exoplanets at the Burke Baker PlanetariumWhat: Behind-the-Scenes Tour of The X-Planets
When: Thursday, April 18 at 6 p.m.
Who: Dr. Carolyn Sumners and Adam Barnes
How Much: $18

Since its launch in 2009, NASA’s planet-hunting Kepler Telescope has uncovered 2,740 new extra-solar planets, also known as exoplanets or X-planets. Now scientists are working to identify gases in the exoplanets’ atmospheres that can support life. It is just a matter of time before an “alien Earth ” is found. Join Dr. Carolyn Sumners and Adam Barnes of the Museum’s astronomy department for a behind-the-scenes look at the science behind X-Planets, the making of the film The X-Planets and a viewing of the film in the Burke Baker Planetarium. To purchase tickets and read more about the film, click here.

The X-Planets: Exploring the consequences of another Earth

Published by on in Astronomy
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When you look up at the night sky, do you ever think you’re seeing other solar systems? Do you ever wonder if any of the stars you see have planets like Earth in orbit around them?

We have discovered that seven planets and more than a hundred moons in our solar system are simply not enough like Earth to foster the development of life or to make colonization easy. We now realize that our search for an alien Earth must occur in solar systems around other stars.

As we approach a thousand confirmed exoplanets, we are becoming better at identifying Earth-like worlds. Sensitive measurements are required to detect the small wobble in a star caused by an orbiting planet or the drop in light caused by a planet crossing in front of a star.

Explore exoplanets at the Burke Baker PlanetariumNASA’s Kepler telescope, a planet-hunting mission, has uncovered 2,740 potential alien worlds since its 2009 launch. Of these, more than 350 are about the size of Earth. Observatories on Earth’s mountaintops are also identifying planets around other worlds and confirming the discoveries of Kepler.

Now we are working on detecting more than an exoplanet’s mass, diameter, and distance from its star by developing sensors that can identify gases in the planet’s atmosphere. This way, we can look for the oxygen and water vapor that support life on Earth.

It is just a matter of time before we find a world that is truly Earth’s twin. Studies suggest small planets like Earth are probably common in the universe — easily over 10 billion in our Milky Way Galaxy. Will the discovery of an alien Earth change the way we think about the universe and our place in it? Will we then realize that our planet is not unique, and that perhaps life on Earth is not unique either? Does this change how we think of our home planet and ourselves?

Visit the Planetarium’s new show, The X-Planets: Discovering Other Earths, to explore the first exoplanet discoveries and ponder these fundamental questions. For a full film schedule, click here.

A(nother) world away? The X-Planets, now at the Burke Baker Planetarium, takes viewers to alien earths

Published by on in Astronomy
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X-Planets: Discovering Other Earths — a full-dome show now playing in the Burke Baker Planetarium — introduces viewers to the most famous of the newly discovered exoplanets. The show first zooms the exoplanet’s star out of the star field before taking a closer look at the alien world, followed by an artist’s conception of how the planet’s surface might look.

X-Planets: Now Playing at the Burke Baker Planetarium
X-Planets visits HD28185b, the first exoplanet found in the habitable zone

Finding exoplanets is perhaps the hottest topic in astronomy, with discoveries making the news daily. For instance, just this fall we discovered a planet orbiting our nearest star system, Alpha Centauri, only 4.4 light years away. The planet’s official name is Alpha Centauri Bb, indicating that it orbits one of the two major stars in the Alpha Centauri system. The planet is nearly the size of Earth but lies very close to its parent star, well inside the habitable zone where liquid water could exist.

Although the planet may be too hot for life to survive on its surface, the discovery of an Earth-sized planet orbiting Alpha Centauri B has ignited hope that this star could have a whole system of rocky worlds. Interstellar distances are so great that we need a nearby planet for any possible interstellar probe.

Another unlikely exoplanet made news this fall. Dr. Neil deGrasse Tyson, director of the Hayden Planetarium in New York City, has identified an exoplanet that fits the description of 27 light years away. Indeed, we have found so many exoplanets that we can match at least one with a famous comic book description of a fictitious alien world.

Current X-planet news is shown on the planetarium dome for visitors attending The X-Planets show. The show explores exoplanets like HD28185b, the first planet in the habitable zone of a star, and Corot 7b, the first rocky exoplanet.

For more information, including showtimes and online ticket purchasing, click here.