Science Feature

Astronomers on verge of finding Earth's twin

PLANET hunters say it's just a matter of time before they lasso Earth's twin, which almost surely is hiding somewhere in our star-studded galaxy.

Momentum is building: Recently, astronomers announced they had discovered three super-Earths worlds more massive than ours but small enough to most likely be rocky orbiting a single star. And dozens of other worlds suspected of having masses in that same range were found around other stars.

"Being able to find three Earth-mass planets around a single star really makes the point that not only may many stars have one Earth, but they may very well have a couple of Earths," said Alan Boss, a planet formation theorist at the Carnegie Institution of Washington in Washington, DC, USA.

Since the early 1990s, when the first planets outside of our solar system were detected orbiting the pulsar PSR 1257, astronomers have identified nearly 300 such worlds. However, most of them are gas giants called hot Jupiters that orbit close to their stars because, simply, they are easier to find.

"So far we've found Jupiters and Saturns, and now our technology is becoming good enough to detect planets smaller, more like the size of Uranus and Neptune, and even smaller," said one of the top planet hunters on this world, Geoff Marcy of the University of California, Berkeley.

Marcy, Boss and other scientists are optimistic that within the next five or so years headlines will be splashed with news of a near twin of Earth in another star system.

"What is amazing to me is that for thousands of years humans have gazed at the stars, wondering if there might be another Earth out there somewhere," Boss said. "Now we know enough to say that Earth-like planets are indeed orbiting many of those stars, unseen perhaps, but there nevertheless."

Two techniques are now standard for spotting other worlds. Most of the planets noted to date have been discovered using the radial velocity method, in which astronomers look for slight wobbles in a star's motion due to the gravitational tug of an orbiting planet. This favours detection of very massive planets that are very close to their host stars.

With the transit method, astronomers watch for a dimming of light when a planet passes in front of its host star. Though more haphazard, this approach works when telescopes scan the light from hundreds or thousands of stars at once.

Both methods are limited by their ability to block out the overshadowing light of the host star. For instance, the sun is 100 times larger, 300,000 times more massive and up to 10 billion times brighter than Earth. "Detecting Earth in reflected light is like searching for a firefly six feet from a searchlight that is 2,400 miles distant," writes a panel of astronomers recently in their final report of the Exoplanet Task Force. With upgrades in spectrometers and digital cameras attached to telescopes, astronomers' eyes have become more sensitive to relatively tiny stellar wobbles (measured by changes in certain wavelengths of light) and dips in starlight from ever smaller planets. The discovery of super-Earths announced last week reflects this technological leap.

"I think why astronomers are really excited [about the super-Earth discovery] is it just shows that technology has really matured and so they're able to see these very subtle wobbles due to these low-mass planets," said David Charbonneau of the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics in Massachusetts. "Those were fairly massive stars. If they were able to get the same precision on a lower-mass star, they would be able to look at even lower-mass planets and so those really would be analogues of the Earth."

To eek out even more sensitivity from current technologies, Charbonneau suggests astronomers look for worlds around small stars.

He and other astronomers are in fact probing the universe for transiting planets orbiting M dwarfs, or red dwarfs, which are about 50% dimmer than the sun and much less massive. Red dwarfs are also considered the most common star type in the universe.

Source: SPACE.com

Interpretation of Dreams

Life may be just a dream, but how do we interpret it? What we dream at night can give us clues about what is important to us in waking life. Dreams help us to process our conscious thoughts and can give us new and important insights into the problems and challenges we face in the world. Although we may have strange and unusual dreams, there are a number of common dreams that many of us experience over and over again. Read the interpretations below for an explanation of symbols that seem to appear frequently in dreams.

1. Faulty or lost items: your phone won't work, your car breaks down, or you can't find your husband.
This dream is alerting you to areas of your life that need repair or extra care right now. You may want to slow down and pay more attention to the realm of life indicated. For example, if you dream of your phone not working, notice how you are communicating to others now. Are you doing everything you can to get your message across in a positive way? If not, you may want to tune up this area of your life.

2. Money: you received a windfall, or you lost your savings in the stock market.
Money in dreams symbolizes what you value or find important in life. If you dream of suddenly receiving a sum of money, this indicates that you are at a time in your life when your values are becoming very clear to you. If you have dreams of losing money, you may be experiencing a time of feeling separated from your sense of meaning in life. Try to explore what has been important to you in the past to see if your values have changed or altered over time.

3. You find yourself back in the classroom, or you've failed a test.
This dream indicates that there is a challenge in your life and you fear failing. It also can mean that you may feel regressed in some way and are not up to the task currently at hand. You may also feel judged or tested by an authority figure or someone who is in charge of you in some way.

4. You or a loved one is ill or dying.
You may be approaching a time of great change when some parts of your life are falling away and disappearing. This dream is helping you to practice the feelings of loss that you may be having as the elements of your life or your relationships with others change and evolve. It is rare that this dream forecasts an actual death or illness, but it still might be a good idea to get a check-up or pay extra attention to your health now.

5. Being chased.
Being chased in a dream indicates that you may be feeling you have a lot of responsibilities that you are having a hard time keeping up with. This dream is often known as a 'stress dream,' indicating that its presence is a sign to try to relax and slow down.

6. Teeth: you're smiling with nice, clean teeth, or your teeth are breaking off or forming cavities.
Teeth represent time, stability, and maturity. The state of the teeth in your dream will give important clues as to what your relationships and feelings are related to these important life themes.

7. Falling, flying, or sinking.
Changing direction, either going up or down in a dream, indicates where your awareness is in waking life. Dreams of falling or sinking symbolize a time of being more aware of your unconscious mind and deepest innermost thoughts, feelings, and memories. Dreams of flying indicate that you are exploring your conscious mind at this time or connecting to the realm of spirits, angels, and other energetic beings.

8. Water
Water in dreams is a sign that a certain emotional situation or experience is of importance in your life. Now is a good time to pay particular attention to your feelings and the realm of the imagination, dreams, and fantasies. The condition or state of the water will give clues as to the exact nature of your experience. Hurricanes and storms can indicate more challenging emotional situations, and on the opposite side, gentle streams and lakes indicate a more calm and peaceful emotional state or even a love or romantic connection.

9. Missing a boat, plane, bus, etc.
Transportation vehicles in dreams symbolize the ability to move and act in the world. They represent our will, desire, and skill at accomplishing and manifesting our dreams and goals. When one of these vehicles is missing, it can mean that we are having a hard time finding the motivation to act and move in the world. We may need to reconnect with what drives or propels us into creatively manifesting our dreams.

Developing the skill to interpret and make the most of your dream messages is an easy and enjoyable process and can be done by just about anyone.

Quick Tips to Interpret and Benefit from Your Dreams:
1. Keep a dream journal near your bed to record your dreams.
2. Read through your journal once a week and underline repeating dream symbols, terms, people, and themes that arise.
3. Use the guide above to track your current emotional state and life issues, and notice the patterns and timing of their evolution.
4. Try to identify any dream symbols (cars, teeth, water) that appear in your waking life, noticing which appear with greater frequency and the nature of your interaction with these symbols. Is there any overlap between your waking and dreaming life?

Source: Internet