3 ms·
This similarity index only measures radius, density, escape velocity and surface temperature, so it doesn't mean nearly as much as one would think upon reading
by V-2 11y ago
This similarity index only measures radius, density, escape velocity and surface temperature, so it doesn't mean nearly as much as one would think upon reading the headline
- sixothree 11y agoDoes surface temperature imply an awful lot in this situation? How accurate are we able to measure?
- Osmium 11y ago> How accurate are we able to measure? Quite poorly, I believe. I think surface temperature is estimated based on the distance from the star, and I think it assumes an albedo (reflection coefficient) and maybe a typical(?) atmosphere (though I'm not sure about this). In any case, I imagine the error's quite large. Unfortunately, we only have our own solar system to go on, and until we find better ways of studying these exoplanets, we have no good way of knowing if the planets in our solar system are really representative of what's out there or not. But that's why this research is so important.