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- From: steinly@topaz.ucsc.edu (Steinn Sigurdsson)
- Newsgroups: sci.space
- Subject: Re: was: question about SETI, now: planets around pulsars?
- Date: 12 Jan 93 11:43:47
- Organization: Lick Observatory/UCO
- Lines: 30
- Message-ID: <STEINLY.93Jan12114347@topaz.ucsc.edu>
- References: <tim.726364246@giaeb> <C0HvLB.1op@zoo.toronto.edu>
- <1993Jan8.020559.10713@cbfsb.cb.att.com>
- NNTP-Posting-Host: topaz.ucsc.edu
- In-reply-to: wa2ise@cbnewsb.cb.att.com's message of 8 Jan 93 02:05:59 GMT
-
- In article <1993Jan8.020559.10713@cbfsb.cb.att.com> wa2ise@cbnewsb.cb.att.com (robert.f.casey) writes:
-
- In article <C0HvLB.1op@zoo.toronto.edu> henry@zoo.toronto.edu (Henry Spencer) writes:
-
- >Astronomers are very interested in the immediate vicinity of pulsars,
- >because it's an excellent bet that you can find objects of great theoretical
- >interest (accretion disks and such) there. Peculiar and conspicuous objects
- >thereabouts would not be missed. And yes, astronomers take the possibility
-
- About a year or so ago, some astronomers thought that they might have
- found planets orbiting a pulsar. One suspect pulsar planetary system
- turned out to be false (orbit of one "planet" was 1/2 the time of Earth's,
- and thus suspect), but another looked good then. Anyone know if this
- other (at the time) good detection has held up? Confirmed?
-
- The pulsar is PSR 1257+12, with timing anomalies consistent with the
- presence of at least two planets of few Earth masses in 66 and 99 day
- orbits (approximate). There is a possible third planet with orbital
- period >> 1 year. The timing has remained consistent with the presence
- of the planets and there is apparently the beginning of a hint of
- evidence for planet-planet coupling in the timing, which was predicted
- and is considered a "smoking gun" for confirmation.
-
- There are other potential candidate pulsars which may have planets
- around them, not yet confirmed.
-
- * Steinn Sigurdsson Lick Observatory *
- * steinly@lick.ucsc.edu "standard disclaimer" *
- * The laws of gravity are very,very strict *
- * And you're just bending them for your own benefit - B.B. 1988*
-