Chandra X-ray Observatory - HomeAbout The ChandraEducational MaterialsField GuidePhoto AlbumPress RoomResources
Chandra X-ray Observatory - HomeChandra Resources - You are here
ObservatoryMultimediaImages and IllustrationsAnimations and VideoChandra Special FeaturesChandra PodcastsPresentationsVirtual PostcardsHandouts and ActivitiesDesktop ImagesScreen SaversAudioQ&AGlossaryAcronym GuideFurther Reading
Web Site ToolsVisit the Chandra ChroniclesEmail NewsletterSite MapNew & NoteworthyImage Use PolicyQuestions & AnswersGlossaryDownload Guide

Q&A: Chandra Mission



Q:

Could Chandra determine if there are planets around the closest (or not closest) stars? Could the heavy objects be detected around the stars, if the resolution allows, by showing an asymmetric mass distribution around that star? Could the planets surrounding a star be detected if they overlap an X-ray background (coming from other objects) so they could be seen as pieces of matter obstructing the X-ray source? Planets

A:

It is not very likely that Chandra could determine if there are planets around the closest (or not closest) stars. Optical astronomers detect planets by carefully observing the spectrum (distribution of light with energy) of a star. If a particular feature moves around in a regular pattern, that information can be used to deduce the motion of the star, which in turn can be used to deduce the presence of an unseen planetary or brown dwarf companion. The X-ray emission from stars is highly variable, so it would be extremely difficult to deduce motion from changes in the spectra.

Such an effect of showing an asymmetric mass distribution around the star would be very small. The only hope would be to use variations in the spectrum, as discussed above.

Overlap obstruction would also have a very small effect. For a Jupiter sized source around the nearest star, any obstructing effect would be a thousand times smaller than Chandra could detect.


Back | Index | Next

separator line
CXC Home | Search | Help | Site Map | Image Use Policy | Privacy & Accessibility | Downloads & Plugins
Latest Images | New & Noteworthy | Multimedia | Flash Ecards | Glossary | Q&A | Guestbook


RSS Feed RSS Feed | Podcast Podcast | Blog Blog

[News by email: Chandra Digest]
[Contact us: cxcpub@cfa.harvard.edu]
NASA's Home Page Smithsonian's Home Page CXC Home Page Image Map for NASA's, Smithsonian and Chandra's Home Pages
Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics
60 Garden Street, Cambridge, MA 02138 USA
Phone: 617.496.7941 Fax: 617.495.7356


Text Size:
normal font large font larger font
Chandra X-ray Center, Operated for NASA by the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory
This site was developed with funding from NASA under Contract NAS8-03060.
Revised: August 02, 2005