Tunnels Between the Stars

In an issue of Green Lantern Corps, entitled "Recharge" from way back in 2006, a nemesis called "The Spider Guild" sneaked to the home planet of the Green Lantern Corps by passing through a wormhole connecting the stars. These tunnels between the stars are called "The Subspace Web". By entering another star (or blackhole) from a different sector of the universe, the 'spiders' traversed through subspace web and then emerged directly from within Oa's sun and attacked the Green Lantern's base "from out of the light".



It's all Science Fiction, so far. Right?

Now for the Science part.

A recent study suggests that wormholes might exist between distant stars. However, it's not easy to detect if a star could harbor some passageway hidden deep within its center. But the scientists are saying that they could be distinguishable from normal stars (or even from normal neutron stars). And it's because these wormholes are not empty tunnels, rather they contain a perfect fluid that flows back and forth between the two stars, giving them a detectable signature via their pulsations.

Wait. It's still Science Fiction!

Nope. Actually, real scientists and astrophysicists are saying this. See for yourself on their ArXiv paper. And take note: Kepler has detected a lot of pulsating stars in their Asteroseismological studies. Yes, Kepler also deals with Asteroseismology--the science that involves probing the interiors of stars and quantifying their global properties, such as radius and age, through observations of normal modes of oscillation. So, ya never know! Our good ol' Kepler might discover some wormhole-bearing stars! Heh!



Now back to the fiction. To cut a long story short, by sheer teamwork, inspired by a massive recital of their green lantern oath (in brightest day, in blackest night...blah...blah), the Green Lantern Corps managed to push back the invading marauders back into the star--including the star itself! Their own sun got pushed into the wormhole-tunnel from the outside-in and was destroyed along with the Spider Guild's nest. So now, in that episode, the green lantern's planet Oa has actually become a starless planet, a rogue planet!

And there you have it, folks. Just a brief excursion in the world of scifi on a friday night! Happy Friday!

Links:
A Star Harbouring a Wormhole at its Center (PDF)
Stars Could Have Wormholes At Their Cores (Tech. Review)
the possibility of wormholes between stars (Physorg)

Exoplanets are not Planets

How long will exoplanets keep on destroying our predefined notions? Just a few days short of smashing our theories of planetary formation into smithereens, now we have two exoplanets sharing one orbit.

According to the International Astronomical Union (IAU) a planet should clear its orbit of other objects. This condition was a source of heated debate among astronomers that rages on to this very day. It was this alienating third criterion that dethroned Pluto and other dwarf planets from planetary status.

So when I heard that KOI-730's exoplanets were sharing orbits, my first reaction was, “Hey wait a minute...if we try to apply the ‘official’ definition of 'planet' to these exoplanets, they would not be planets at all!”

This is just one instance, but i'm sure there are many derivatives of the case of KOI-730's co-orbiting exoplanets that "share" orbits with other objects. Think of intersecting resonant orbital paths, or locked LaGrangian exoplanet orbits, or exoplanets still in the process of clearing out debris in their path. (It would take millions of years for young planets to clear their orbital zones, mind you.)

I’ve always thought that exoplanets are planets. But today, I'm rethinking that. Yes, exoplanets continue to surprise us, and it's for that reason that I once concluded, Exoplanet is the new 'Planet' by virtue of the awe and wonder that they instill upon us. But now, I’ve come to another realization: Exoplanets are not Planets, and that is liberating. It frees the mind from a limited way of thinking, because the mindset needed for understanding exoplanets is different. Exoplanet discoveries forces you to unlearn, and it frees your mind from the confines of your own star system. Exoplanets require a novel way of thinking. And that is why I love exoplanets so much. They make us think in new ways. Exoplanets make us think outside the sphere! And all that is possible because of Science.

It frustrates me when some astronomers deny dwarf planets of being planets, and yet speak of exoplanets as planets in a carefree way. I want to avoid being annoyed by such inconsistent mindset. So I am letting go of the debate about planets. (Of course, I still consider dwarf planets as legit planets) I will simply let planets be planets, and exoplanets be exoplanets. Just that. I will not try to make exoplanets fit in as planets. I will not even attempt to redefine what a planet is, or grumble about its flawed definition. In fact, I'd rather we keep the current planet definition the way it is now. Let it be a reminder, a tainted bygone--an old ugly chapter in the history of Astronomy.

Perhaps someday, a new definition of the planet will emerge, one that is more universal, that will encompass exoplanets as well. But for now, we are experiencing a temporary chaos brought about by the "growing pains" in our effort to understand the universe.

But until then, with the narrow-minded planet definition we have arrogantly locked ourselves into, who can say with certainty that exoplanets are planets?

This is a new era of planetary thinking. Humanity’s concept of the Planet is of the past, but Exoplanets are of the future.

Links:
NewScientist: Two exoplanets found, sharing one orbit
Life, Unbounded: Make Me a Planet
Theories of Planetary Formation, Busted
Exoplanet is the new 'Planet'

Sunless Biospheres

Today, I heard about the newly discovered sets of undersea vents found near Antartica. I can’t help but remember an article just a few days ago that mentioned the possibility of rogue planets harboring life. Although the theory is based on computer simulations, the researchers say that a “Steppenwolf planet” wandering in outer space like a “lone wolf”--may have liquid oceans if the water were heated from below by the planet's core and insulated from above by a thick layer of ice. A sunless biosphere.

I wonder how long these Steppenwolf planets will manage to keep the heat inside it's shell of ice to give enough time for life to synthesize from within its undersea vents. Time and luck is definitely a factor. Nevertheless, there’s a lot of planets out there; and not even counting exomoons in the equation, Hydrothermal Vents may be common for those planets that may have ample amount of water and enough internal heat as a source of energy. And judging from the resiliency of life as demonstrated by extremophiles thriving upon the energy and minerals around these vents, it makes me even more convinced of the possibility that life may be common in the universe.

Perhaps Life is not wholly dependent upon stars and suns. Perhaps Life just needs is a source of energy in any which form it is available and it will take hold given enough time and space--which in this case, is a Sunless Biosphere of a Steppenwolf Planet.

Links:
More deep-sea vents discovered
Rogue Planets could harbor life

Transit Light-Curve Signatures of Artificial Objects

Hot on the trail of Transit Light Curve (TLC*) Mechanics, I’d like to follow up my previous post dealing with transits by featuring this topic: Transit Light-Curve Signatures of Artificial Objects. It's a "Dysonian SETI" paper written by Luc Arnold from way back in 2005 that also mentions possible signals that might be encoded within transit light curves, and hints at the detection of ringed planets as well.

The main idea is that non-spherical objects have different light curve signatures and should be distinguishable from the usual patterns of a transiting planet.

Because hundreds or thousands of people are now looking at light curves via the Planet Hunters project, I thought it’s a good idea to post what the paper says about unusual light-curve patterns that might be caused by the transit of artificial planet-sized objects. Who knows? Perhaps the common folk hunting for planets might end up finding Civilizations as well!

So, dear planet-hunter slash civilization-hunter, start familiarizing yourself with the sample patterns I compiled below (as a quick reference) while you're classifiying light curves at PlanetHunters.org. Good luck with spotting that Kardashev Type II Civilization !!!

* TLC Mechanics/Dynamics, A sub-field of the science of planet-hunting focused on the study and analysis of Transit Light Curves

Bow Shock Transits

Just a quick note to all the Citizen Planet Hunters (CPH) involved in Zooniverse's Planet Hunter project. Based on this paper, Transit Variability in Bow Shock-Hosting Planets, exoplanet bow shocks can affect the light curve during transits. There will be small variations in the light curve caused by the bow shock when the planet’s magnetosphere adjusts in response to "variations in the surrounding ambient medium."

In essence, the variations and irregularities are caused by "shock transits". We should be aware of them when analyzing light curves. I believe that many of the exoplanet candidates in Kepler's data release have bow shocks because most of them lie very close to their respective host stars.

Also, I think that bow shocks are bright, especially when the planet plows through material from a massive coronal mass ejection (CME). Hence some bow shock transits should cause a spike (instead of a dip) in the light curve. This spike, I assume, should occur a short moment before the planet crosses the star, or shortly before the "ingress".

However, there's a disclaimer I'd like to add to this post: The paper says that the effect of the shock transit shows up in the near-UV light curves. But Kepler's light curves are photometric optical light curves, so i am making an inference that effects of bow shocks might show up in Kepler's optical light curves as well. (I will dig more about this topic and post as soon as i get more info).

But For now, take a look at the snapshot below and note the pattern of how the bow shock's transit shows itself in the light curves. And more importantly, a reversed pattern might show up for planets that have "behind shocks". The main principle is that bow shocks can affect light curves.

Good luck! And don't be shocked if you find yourself one of the co-discoverers of a planet with an amazing bow shock!

Kepler's Groundhog Day Exoplanets

Groundhog Day, year 2011. The Kepler Mission team announces new exoplanet discoveries and releases data on more than a thousand new exoplanet candidates giving a clear sign of what is to come: There will be more exoplanet discoveries, again and again, over and over, for decades onwards.

The latest exoplanet announcements from Kepler are six “Neptune-type” planets all of are in tight orbits around their parent star called Kepler-11.

But even more exciting than the announcement of these six planets around Kepler-11 is the Kepler team's public release of data that contains more than a thousand new exoplanet candidates that have yet to be confirmed. Approximately 90% is expected to turn out as true exoplanets from this data set alone. They would most likely include many super-earths, and even more earth-size planets some of which lie in the habitable zone.

There will be more exoplanets in the coming months and years. I cannot even fathom what this would mean for our generation. We are witnessing a historic event in humanity's quest to find our place in the universe.

Consider this: in the Cygnus constellation alone, an area in the sky smaller than a coin held at arms length harbors thousands of planets, if not millions. A few thousand of those planets are as small, or smaller than our own, orbiting within the Habitable Zone. I cannot even dare say (because it's an understatement) that at least one of these worlds could harbor some form life.

Are you having an existential shock now? Well, get used to it. This will happen over and over again.

Happy Groundhog Day!

Links:
Bounty of Multi-Planet Solar Systems
It’s Full of Planets

Mass Effect 2 Review

If there's any video game that has all the fictional planets with the coolest names ever, then it's Mass Effect 2 (ME2). It's probably the only game that made me read the short stories about its fictional planetary settings. I admired all the beautiful exoplanetary landscapes and terrains, and the views of cities that set my minds on worlds beyond. ME2 made me pay attention to the dialogues between the characters because it matters; getting to know each of the characters that make up your team is crucial to the success of the final mission.

What’s great about Mass Effect 2 is that the storyline is not exactly the same for each player. Meaning, no two players can experience the exact same events that unfolded during their game play. For example, here’s how my own storyline went: Legion, my favorite Geth sustained a fatal headshot in the final mission. I felt really bad losing him because I loved talking to him. Legion was the only casualty in my team. But other players did not lose a single team member. Or some lost two or more.

Another example is that Miranda was totally pissed at me. Thus, I ended up with ‘Jack’ on a rough scene below the deck of Normandy, not with Miranda in the engine room that some players brag about with a wide grin.

Another thing I love about Mass Effect 2 is that it touches upon so many human aspects. Here’s some of them; Emotion: Miranda shed a tear after seeing her twin sister, and Kazumi keeps a memory of a loved one. Romance: Go figure. Humor: Mordin sang (he's my least favorite because he resembles Jar Jar Binks). Philosophy: My conversations with Legion the Geth was very interesting as it dealt with existentialism. Aggression: Grunt just wants to crush every body. Psychology: Thanes was pretty deep with his Zen quips. Politics and Ethics: Tali, keeps a secret, Zaeed wasn’t too happy with me for foiling his revenge in exchange for saving lives. Morality: The “Renegade” (bad cop) and “Paragon” (good cop) feature has a bearing on the outcome of the game. Apparently, ME2 has something for the evil within you, and it will show up in your face.

As you can see, the scope of the game reaches deep into the humanity of the player while managing to touch upon larger topics such as: Exploration: the quick bits of story and context behind the in-game planets were very good. It was fun reading through the narratives behind each planet. Science: Loads of astrophysics were integrated into the stories behind each exoplanet. It made me think that an astrophysicist and astrobiologist were consulted in this game.

The writers really did a great job of appealing to the different dimensions of the human psyche, and the narratives were well written. All in all, I consider Mass Effect 2 as a masterpiece.


Notes:

This mini-review is long overdue. I actually dug this from my google.docs and hurriedly posted it, hoping that some items from my wish-list could get to the game developers in time to get implemented in the upcoming Mass Effect 3, which is due this year 2011. Also, since I am now getting immersed in a new high-adrenaline game, I needed to get this out prior to posting my review of Dead Space 2. So, hey Bioware, please take a look at my wish list below:

Wish list:
1) Mass Effect should work with Kinect!
2) “Game-within-a-game” (unlocking and hacking) should be more diverse and varied than just pattern matching and memory game.
3) Multi-player mode
4) Should have more references to Astronomical objects. I already love the inclusion of Eagle Nebula and Crescent Nebula, and so on. I wish there were more. Perhaps add Orion Nebula...
5) Mining the planets made me fall asleep several times (so i let my son mine minerals for me) Not sure if mining could be made more exciting

Glitches:
1) Lack of Mass in planetary properties
2) Text is too small and unreadable. I had to get HDMI cable to read the short stories about the planets
3) Some bugs: (I was unable to move in some spots. This happened around 4 times)
4) Mordin eerily reminds me of Jar Jar Binks. Could you please change his face or change the way he talks?

The Search for Exoplanets and ExoLife

This is a great presentation about the search for exoplanets. Featuring the techniques (transit and radial velocity), instruments (Kepler and Keck), and the ongoing challenges involved in finding these diverse far-away worlds. Aside from noting the race to find the first earth-sized exoplanet, it also touches upon the prospect of finding life on exoworlds--one of the main goals of the Science of Exoplanets. It also includes some great quotes from leading astronomers and scientists. Watch it in its entirety. Highly recommended!

"We're gonna have an existential shock, looking at the night sky. Realizing that there--there-there are earth-like twins in outer space. And then we're gonna wonder: Is there anyone looking back?" ~ Michio Kaku

"The 64 million dollar question is whether or not there are other intelligent life in the universe. The answer is definitely yes!" ~ Geoff Marcy

"I think it's inevitable that we're gonna find another intelligent life in outer space. Get used to it." ~ Michio Kaku

Links:
Planet Data to Hunt for Life

Exodyssey

By not posting my review of Exodyssey last year, I have done great injustice to this excellent work of art entitled Exodyssey by Steambot Studio. Exodyssey is actually the first art book ever that used the word “exoplanet” for the very first time. As such, credit is due to them. But even moreso, they deserve the utmost kudos for producing the most amazing concept art book ever.

I’ve been posting pictures from my micro-reviews of the book
since last year (and the year before that). And here is a page
from my own copy of the book which is about
the exoplanet called Samhuinn.

The book is truly inspiring as it gives room for your own imagination to run wild and free. The “awe-mazing” artworks simply gives ‘prompts’ as a starting point for your mind to build upon. This book has that feel of a graphic novel, a comic book, a concept illustration book, and an artist’s scrapbook/portfolio--while managing to be *not* any of those in itself--which makes this book truly unique. It’s like five books in one!

Also, the storyline is great. Check out my summary of their script:

Exodyssey is the name given to the long and war-filled period of time during which humans departed for exo-planets in order to survive their own destruction. The book chronicles the journey of Harry, a highly gifted engineer...a descendant of the first wave of colonists who decided to leave earth. Harry is the key to discovering the origins of an extraterrestrial invasion and is provided the means to travel to a planet called Samhuinn.

I would end my mini-review of Exodyssey by telling you how I useful this book is to me: Whenever i need visual or conceptual inspiration, every now and then, I pull this gem from out of my bookshelf and browse through its pages to take me to a futuristic otherworldly journey which I can describe as an amazing exodyssey!

Links:
Exodyssey

Exoplanetary Dreamscapes

As a follow-up to my installments about artsy exoplanetary sceneries, i bring you Exoplanetary Dreamscapes from Kahn & Selesnick. This time, i dare not use the word “surreal” as it will not suffice to describe these otherworldly works of art that send my mind to the wild exo-yonder.
Let my words be few. The links below points you to more of their work which can be accessible via their tumblr and their book, Mars Adrift on the Hourglass Sea.

Links:
Kahn & Selesnick (Tumblr)
Exoplanetary Dreamscapes
Mars Adrift on the Hourglass Sea (book)

Surreal Exoplanet Landscapes

One of Joan Fontcuberta's recycled landscape.

For a while now, I’ve been quite lapse on featuring some exoplanet art on this blog. Allow me to make up for it with this post featuring an unlikely source of imaginary digital realms that give a glimpse of exoplanet landscapes.

In Joan Fontcuberta’s Landscapes without Memory, the method in how these landscapes were produced is as interesting as how they were generated. Instead of inputting maps into the scenery-rendering Terragen software, Fontcuberta entered masterpieces by Paul Cezanne, Andre Derain, Gustave LeGray, Jackson Pollock, Edward Weston, and others to make 3D landscapes from the two-dimensional artworks. "The contours and tones of these painted and photographic landscapes were transformed into three-dimensional mountains, rivers, valleys, and clouds. The result gives the user the illusion of navigating in three dimensions which had previously been visualized only as a flat image".

To me, Fontcuberta’s work offers a glimpse of otherworldly landscapes, and it mirrors the unexpected surprises that exoplanets provide as we continue to discover these worlds that could prove to be more surreal than we could ever imagine.

Links:
Joan Fontcuberta’s Recycled Landscapes (From FlavorWire)
Landscapes Without Memory (Book)

Our Holy Grail

There’s always that Quest, that insatiable quest to find the most important thing of all. In the field of Exoplanet Science, planet-hunters are actively pursuing to discover the first earth-like planet, or the first inhabited exoworld. Is that the holy grail in exoplanet science? Perhaps.

But in stories where the holy grail is mentioned within the plot, they often contain twists that leave the audience in awe of the unexpected. Such a twist is worth re-telling in this post because it is a monumental event in the history of Exoplanetology.

One night, after his talk on exoplanets at the American Museum of Natural History, the astrophysicist Ben Oppenheimer poignantly answered this question, "What is the Holy Grail in Exoplanet Science?"

“For me, the Holy Grail in Exoplanet Science is simply being part of it. It’s not making the best exoplanet discovery, or being in the news and all that; It’s simply being part of the collective efforts of the people around the Science of Exoplanets.”

I still remember that idea so clearly, despite the slight tipsiness from the booze of red wine and olives served at the SciCafe event. As I headed home that night, I couldn’t fathom how the common folk would ever be able to find planets at all. And I wondered how simple citizens could help well-trained planet-hunters.

For many months thereafter, I looked into different Citizen Science projects that show potential. I even wrote about the need to enable the common folk to contribute to the hunt for exoplanets, 'subtly' urging astronomy-oriented organizations to embark on such a project.

Then one day, I became excited about Zooniverse’s Milky Way Project, wishing that they make one for exoplanets, too. I asked the hive mind...almost pleading: When will Zooniverse make one for Exoplanets?

I was shocked a few days later. Along came Planet Hunters, the latest project by Zooniverse that enables citizens to find exoplanets!

Hear ye! Hear ye! The Holy Grail of Exoplanet Science is not an object. It’s not even a special exoplanet. Rather, it is the swarm of people--the community--embarking on a mission to find exoplanets. Ultimately, such undertaking will lead us to answer some of man’s greatest questions: Are there worlds like ours out there? Is there life on other worlds?

Planet Hunters is a Citizen Science project that allows volunteers to sieve through data taken by the NASA Kepler space mission. Participants search for possible transit events by looking at light curves and identifying dips in brightness that occurs when a planet passes in front of the star - with the goal of discovering a planet (hence the name "Planet Hunters").

The response to Planet Hunters was enormous. So much that in only a few weeks, there’s already a couple of exoplanet candidates flagged by several Citizen Planet Hunters (CPH). So far, I’ve not been so lucky of being among these sharp-eyed exoplanet hunters, but I am just happy contributing in the search for planets, no matter how small it is. I’ve tagged a few stars, and identified some dips from several light curves, and so far the experience is awesome. Perhaps it's a subjective experience, that the holy grail in exoplanet science could mean many things to different people. But one thing i know, is that this is my holy grail--our holy grail--for all those who take part in it, and drink from its cup.

Links:
The Holy Grail in Exoplanet Science
Data Mining Age in Exoplanet Science
Planet Hunters by Zooniverse