Garik Israelian: Spectroscopist

http://www.ted.com/talks/garik_israelian_what_s_inside_a_star.html

Today, I'm posting a TED Talk given by Garik Israelian, who is a spectroscopist that studies "the spectral signatures" of stars and other celestial bodies.  This talk was fascinating because it broadened my horizons regarding what is possible using our knowledge of physics.  I never knew that we could use spectroscopy (the study of light wavelengths and the light spectrum) to deduce information about the universe.  For example, Mr. Israelian talked about how he has observed a planet being consumed by a star by analyzing a spectrograph.  We always think about planets revolving around stars, like those in our own solar system, but I didn't know that a star could consume a planet.  Indeed, it's amazing that he was able to deduce this cleverly using current science. 
I can't wait until we study light wavelengths, because it looks like the reaches of the study of spectroscopy are exceedingly wide-ranging.  Apparently, we can use what we know about the absorbtion spectrum to learn about the chemical composition of stars.  According to Israelian, for our own sun there are 24,000 spectrum lines, and we can't understand the full composition of the sun because of that.  There is so much that we don't know about the universe, but spectroscopy is one of the studies that helps us learn a bit more about it.

[continued from last post] Pictures of Zarmina

Here are some pictures that I didin't to post to my last entry.  They are an artist's rendition of what it would look like on Zarmina.  It isn't known whether there are actually oceans on the planet, but the pictures are representations of what might be there.  Once again, these images were found on the article titled, "The Astrophysicist Who Discovered Zarmina Describes Life On 'Second Earth,'" by Annalee Newitz at http://current.com/1ame74c. Enjoy!

Steve Vogt: Discoverer of "Zarmina"

Recently, I found an article that talks about the discovery of an earth-like planet, dubbed "Zarmina."  This was the first planet found that is capable of supporting life as we know it, and it was discovered by Steve Vogt, astrophysicist at UC Santa Cruz.  In this interview (which can be found at http://current.com/1ame74c ) discusses life on Zarmina and compares it to life on earth.

Vogt explains in the interview that gravity on this planet is very much like gravity on earth.  On Zarmina, we would be ~1-1.5 gs heavier, enabling us to walk around normally.  I thought this was interesting because I never thought that gravity that important to our livelihood, but according to the article, gravity keeps the atmosphere from escaping.  And we need the atmosphere to keep water in it's liquid state; water is the bane of our existence! Therefore, gravity is a requirement to sustain life.  However, I couldn't help thinking that on Zarmina, we would have to rethink all of our calculations involving acceleration.  The acceleration of gravity is ~9.8 m/sec^2, but this value would be undoubtedly different on Zarmina. 

I loved trying to imagine how this planet would look, as well.  Apparently, Zarmina's sun (which I believe is a red dwarf star) always stays in the same place in the sky, so Zarmina doesn't have "days," like we do.  Also, this planet has constant winds ~30-40 mph on the sunny side, and from 0-10 mph on the dark side.  These winds could keep the temperature on both sides more in check.  Overall, this article made me realize the impact that physics has on our everyday lives.  It was really apparent how the physics involved in the discovery of Zarmina (regarding temperature and gravity) tied in with biology and the requirements for life.