> --- wrote:
> > Remember, the current detection methods select for large, close
> > planets. That rocky/icy planet was detectable because of a very rare
> > situation.
> >
> > Untill we have more and larger scopes in space, we won't really know
> > what typical systems are like.
>
> Its not that rare. Detection of large planets depend upon the measurement of the > wobble in the star's motion created by nearby gravitational attraction.
You are a bit unlucky here. What you just said is true for 173 of the
185 exoplanets discovered but this planet was discovered using the
gravitational microlensing method, not the radial velocity method.
>The target
> star in this case is an M-class red dwarf with a mass between 0.2 and 0.5 solar.
> The smaller stellar mass would have allowed a greater degree of deviation
> caused by any planetary objects of significant size, including Earth-sized
> planets.
The smallest planet found using the radial velocity method is ~7 times
as massive as Earth and orbits a nearby M2.5 class star. While
detecting a earth-sized planet is possible it would have to orbit
extremely close to the star. The alternative would be to wait a few
years for better equipment to come online and for more data to
accumulate. Astronomers are only begining to crack the lid open on
this treasure.
>What I'm pointing out here is the fact that "anomaly" in astronomy
> is actually rather common. Find just a few of these worlds in any given statistical
> sample of space, and its rather likely they're everywhere.
Definitely, but we have no idea how common smaller planets are in comparison.
/Patrik Holmström
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