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Planets outside our solar system seen for the first time!

On this web site:
http://www.spitzer.caltech.edu/about/fastfacts.shtml


It says that the telescope's orbit is:
Orbit: Earth-trailing, Heliocentric


Dumb questions: Does that mean what I think it means? That the telescope is in an orbit around the sun but since it's trailing the earth it's visible to us at all times? Just want to double check cuz if it means what I think it means -- I'm just really surprised that engineers were able to launch something that could escape the earth gravity but still be caught up within the sun's gravity.

This is amazing stuff and I do wish I understood it better.
 
OK, I posted my question too soon, I just found a pdf article that really spells it out for the non-scientists types like me:

http://www.spitzer.caltech.edu/Media/spitzer-fact-sheet1.pdf

See first two sentences in the last paragraph on page 2:

"One major breakthrough was the clever choice of orbit. Instead of orbiting Earth itself, the observatory trails behind Earth as it orbits the Sun."

Wow, I didn't know NASA could do that. I have to pay more attention, thanks for posting this Walter.
 
Shera said:


Dumb questions: Does that mean what I think it means? That the telescope is in an orbit around the sun but since it's trailing the earth it's visible to us at all times? Just want to double check cuz if it means what I think it means -- I'm just really surprised that engineers were able to launch something that could escape the earth gravity but still be caught up within the sun's gravity.
Click to expand...

Not that surprising, actually. The sun's gravity is so much stronger than the Earths, one really has to work hard to get something fast enough to escape the solar system altogether.
 
thatguywhojuggles said:
My pleasure. Fascinating stuff, huh? Science is so cool.
Click to expand...

yep, I will always be intrigued about why some individuals prefer to "know" about UFO's than the real stuff.
 
I'm wondering the specifics of Spitzer's orbit. Did they put it in a circular orbit around the Sun, just slightly farther out than Earth's? If that's the case, I think it would take about 30 years for it to be on the other side of the Sun from us.
 
The Kepler mission (website) will be in a similar earth-trailing heliocentric orbit of 372.5 days. The mission designers give a probe-earth separation of 0.5 AU after 4 years.

For a really strange heliocentric orbit, check out Criuthne. 3753 Cruithne
 
Bodhi Dharma Zen said:
yep, I will always be intrigued about why some individuals prefer to "know" about UFO's than the real stuff.
Click to expand...

Because it's easier to know about something that is purely speculative than something that is based in fact. I know all about the migration habits of pink unicorns...prove me wrong!

Athon
 
BillC said:
For a really strange heliocentric orbit, check out Criuthne. 3753 Cruithne
Click to expand...
A horseshoe orbit! Truth is stranger than fiction -- and more interesting too!

Back to the Spitzer's telescope, I was wondering why its life span is projected to be only 2.5 to 5 years when Hubble has an estimated life span of 20 years. My guess is that it's based on when NASA estimates the telescope will break down -- the Hubble web site shows that the earthcentric telescope has been maintained roughly every 2 to 4 years since 1990. (Quick Facts link on http://hubblesite.org/reference_desk/facts_.and._figures/)

Got a few of more questions for anyone patient enough to answer:

* Assuming by some awesome feat of engineering marvel that the Spitzer's telescope would not need to be repaired and could deflect space debris, at what point would NASA no longer be able to receive signals from it? Until it was on the other side of the sun?

* Why isn't the telescope's heliocentric orbital speed the same as earth's? This web site http://www.spitzer.caltech.edu/Media/spitzer-fact-sheet1.pdf (on pg.2, last paragraph) says that the Spitzer telescope will drift further away from earth by 9.3 million miles every year.

* Can we assume that the Spitzer's telescope will stay in orbit around the sun forever until let's say years from now an "astro- archeological" team "rediscovers" it?

TIA

Edited to add a decimal point and correct grammer. </>
 
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