The truth about exoplanets

New Zealand’s size and isolation can stimulate new science

“…Antarctica awaits the New Zealand astronomical community as possibly providing the best sites on the surface of our such as Ridge A at an altitude of 4000 m and latitude 80°S, for astronomy (Freeman 2016). Planets orbiting nearby stars could be found from such a site and subsequently examined for the presence of bio-signatures in their atmospheres (Yock 2016;Hecht 2016).…”

Possible Photometric Signatures of Moderately Advanced Civilizations: The Clarke Exobelt

“…The discovery of thousands of exoplanets in recent years has sparked a surge of research on potential atmospheric biomarkers (see e.g., the recent reviews by Schwieterman et al 2017;Grenfell 2017 and references therein). Future giant telescopes, such as the JWST, GMT, E-ELT or TMT, are expected to provide detailed analyses of the atmospheric composition of transiting exoplanets (Hecht 2016;Seager et al 2009;Angel et al 2006;Quanz 2015;Wright et al 2014c). For the first time in history, humankind would be in a position to search for direct unequivocal evidence of life on planets around other stars.…”

Classification of Exoplanets According to Density

“…The raw radius-mass data. Our objective is to recognize statistical regularities and possible anomalies in the physical state of the matter according to density (Weisskopf, 1975) addressing the databases of exoplanets (Hecht, 2016;Witze, 2015;Lissauer et al, 2014). The average density ρ of the planets…”