# What Has Hubble Found THIS Time? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [November 9, 2008, 9:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-has-hubble-found-this-time/471890 "2008-11-09T09:45:07Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Tuckerfan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/eada6e/32.png) [@Tuckerfan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tuckerfan)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2008, 9:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-has-hubble-found-this-time/471890/1 "2008-11-09T09:45:07Z")
[What kind of planet would qualify as a “major discovery”?](http://www.nasa.gov/home/hqnews/2008/nov/HQ_M08227_Hubble.html) > [@](#): > > Hubble Announces A Major Extrasolar Planet Discovery > WASHINGTON – NASA will hold a Science Update to report on a significant discovery about planets orbiting other stars at 2:30 p.m. EST, Thursday, Nov. 13, in NASA’s James E. Webb auditorium. This unique discovery, made by the Hubble Space Telescope’s Advance Camera for Surveys instrument, also will be featured in the Nov. 14 issue of the journal Science. Hmm. Anybody know where they’ve had it turned recently? That might give us a clue as to what it could be. I doubt if they could spot an Earth-like world very far away from us, but they _might_ be able to get a good idea that one’s around one of the closer stars. If they show us something that looks like [this](http://www.physicsguides.com/images/deathstar.jpg), I think we might ought to get worried. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2008, 10:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-has-hubble-found-this-time/471890/2 "2008-11-09T10:32:56Z")
Perhaps it has buildings on it. ---
**Author:** ![thirdname](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/d07c76/32.png) [@thirdname](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thirdname)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2008, 10:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-has-hubble-found-this-time/471890/3 "2008-11-09T10:53:57Z")
These things are obnoxious. I don’t want to hear about it until they actually make the announcement. The last time one of these went around, it was a disappointment. People were speculating all sorts of wondrous things, but it turned out to be another supernova, just a younger one than we’d seen before. There ws a 4-page thread here about it:[NASA set to announce discovery... any guesses as to what it is? - Factual Questions - Straight Dope Message Board](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=467258) ---
**Author:** ![Harmonious\_Discord](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/74df32/32.png) [@Harmonious\_Discord](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Harmonious_Discord)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2008, 11:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-has-hubble-found-this-time/471890/4 "2008-11-09T11:58:48Z")
1. A diamond planet 2. A planet so massive it’s companion planets and sun rotate around it. 3. A planet that switches the sun it orbits depending on the position of the three suns in the system. 4. A planet of dark matter. ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2008, 12:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-has-hubble-found-this-time/471890/5 "2008-11-09T12:17:54Z")
Maybe it’s shaped like Mickey Mouse’s head. ---
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2008, 1:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-has-hubble-found-this-time/471890/6 "2008-11-09T13:26:17Z")
Count me in the “NASA has cried wolf too many times” crowd. I just ignore this stuff. ---
**Author:** ![flodnak](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/838e76/32.png) [@flodnak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/flodnak)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2008, 1:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-has-hubble-found-this-time/471890/7 "2008-11-09T13:34:34Z")
My guess? A planet that is in some significant way “earthlike”. Whether that way is significant to the layperson as well as to the planetary astronomer is a good question. ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2008, 2:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-has-hubble-found-this-time/471890/8 "2008-11-09T14:21:46Z")
Extrasolar, Earthsized, warm, & with water. ---
**Author:** ![42fish](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/4/b487fb/32.png) [@42fish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/42fish)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2008, 5:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-has-hubble-found-this-time/471890/9 "2008-11-09T17:32:54Z")
The Planet of the Apes A planet just like earth, except the water is made with two parts hydrogen, one part oxygen and a pinch of oregano ---
**Author:** ![Q.E.D](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/51bf81/32.png) [@Q.E.D](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.E.D)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2008, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-has-hubble-found-this-time/471890/10 "2008-11-09T17:37:01Z")
> [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](#): > > Extrasolar, Earthsized, warm, & with water. The last two are not possible to know with the current state of technology. ---
**Author:** ![Astroboy14](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/df705f/32.png) [@Astroboy14](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Astroboy14)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2008, 5:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-has-hubble-found-this-time/471890/11 "2008-11-09T17:45:51Z")
> [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](#): > > Extrasolar, Earthsized, warm, & with water. And elephants!! ---
**Author:** ![cmyk](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cmyk/32/3353_2.png) [@cmyk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmyk)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2008, 5:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-has-hubble-found-this-time/471890/12 "2008-11-09T17:46:52Z")
Supernova hate press release! Supernova angry! ---
**Author:** ![chacoguy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/50afbb/32.png) [@chacoguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chacoguy)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2008, 7:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-has-hubble-found-this-time/471890/13 "2008-11-09T19:39:59Z")
An all-water world with a single continent that looks just like Mohamed-peace be upon him. ---
**Author:** ![Sam\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Sam\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sam_Stone)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2008, 7:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-has-hubble-found-this-time/471890/14 "2008-11-09T19:50:14Z")
NASA isn’t ‘crying wolf’. That supernova, for instance, was a big damned deal to astronomers and cosmologists. The problem is that the things that are big, press-release worthy items to NASA’s fellow scientists aren’t the same things that the public finds exciting. Reading the press release, it doesn’t say there’s a major discovery about a planet, it says “NASA will hold a Science Update to report on a significant discovery about planets orbiting other stars”. That suggests to me more of a general principles kind of thing, not necessarily the discovery of a new planet. Or maybe it’s a new planet, but the planet itself is less important than the information it gives us about how they form, or how likely we are to find them, or what kind of orbit they can have, or something like that. ---
**Author:** ![Tristan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tristan/32/18058_2.png) [@Tristan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tristan)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2008, 7:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-has-hubble-found-this-time/471890/15 "2008-11-09T19:50:49Z")
> [@Q.E.D](#): > > The last two are not possible to know with the current state of technology. Pretty sure you’re wrong on that one. We can tell where the sweet spots are on most stars, that “habitable zone” that would allow for surface water. So if there is a planet, and it’s in that zone, if it’s the right size there is a better than even chance it’ll have liquid water. ---
**Author:** ![Tuckerfan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/eada6e/32.png) [@Tuckerfan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tuckerfan)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2008, 8:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-has-hubble-found-this-time/471890/16 "2008-11-09T20:45:26Z")
> [@Harmonious\_Discord](#): > > 1. A diamond planet > 2. A planet so massive it’s companion planets and sun rotate around it. > 3. A planet that switches the sun it orbits depending on the position of the three suns in the system. > 4. A planet of dark matter. [Number 2 was discovered about 2 years ago.](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=318264) > [@](#): > > In a reversal of roles, a planet has gravitationally bullied its star to rotate in step with the planet’s orbit. The star’s behavior is similar to that of our Moon, which turns just fast enough to keep one face always pointing at the Earth ---
**Author:** ![Q.E.D](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/51bf81/32.png) [@Q.E.D](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.E.D)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2008, 8:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-has-hubble-found-this-time/471890/17 "2008-11-09T20:55:00Z")
> [@Tristan](#): > > We can tell where the sweet spots are on most stars, that “habitable zone” that would allow for surface water. So if there is a planet, and it’s in that zone, if it’s the right size there is a better than even chance it’ll have liquid water. Venus is in that zone for our Sun, and it’s the same size as Earth. Additionally, we cannot yet determine the orbital distance of a given extrasolar Earth-sized with sufficient precision to place it the so-called Life Zone. It’s also like that Earth only has an atmosphere due to its magnetic field, another thing we can’t detect on an extrasolar world. So, we can certainly guess whether a given planet is warm and has liquid water, but we cannot know for certain. ---
**Author:** ![Q.E.D](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/51bf81/32.png) [@Q.E.D](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.E.D)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2008, 8:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-has-hubble-found-this-time/471890/18 "2008-11-09T20:56:03Z")
> [@Tuckerfan](#): > > [Number 2 was discovered about 2 years ago.](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=318264) That’s not the same thing he was talking about. ---
**Author:** ![Tuckerfan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/eada6e/32.png) [@Tuckerfan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tuckerfan)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2008, 9:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-has-hubble-found-this-time/471890/19 "2008-11-09T21:06:25Z")
> [@Q.E.D](#): > > That’s not the same thing he was talking about. Its not exact, but its pretty close. ---
**Author:** ![Pushkin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ee59a6/32.png) [@Pushkin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pushkin)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2008, 10:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-has-hubble-found-this-time/471890/20 "2008-11-09T22:48:12Z")
> [@Tuckerfan](#): > > [Number 2 was discovered about 2 years ago.](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=318264) And was given a great thread title as I remember 😃 Maybe NASA were looking through the wrong end of Hubble and wondered why the aliens looked like excited humans in white coats running around screaming. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-has-hubble-found-this-time/471890.md?page=2)