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lagomorph777

(30,613 posts)

6. It seems to be a lucky alignment with an unusually small source.

Reply to ProfessorGAC (Reply #5)

Tue Oct 26, 2021, 02:58 PM

Oct 2021

The black hole's accretion disk is very small compared to a star. So if you're very lucky, a large-ish planet can occult its X-ray emissions. Saturn-sized is not all that large as planets go (compared to the super-Jupiters we've found so many of). NASA lucked out because it happened to have an orbital plane that we view edge-on, and the timing (once in 70 years) was also extremely lucky.

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NASA May Have Found the First Planet in Another Galaxy [View all] Zorro Oct 2021 OP

That's astounding. It's finicky enough, trying to find them in our own galactic neighborhood. lagomorph777 Oct 2021 #1

Another Astounding Thing ProfessorGAC Oct 2021 #3

Yeah, but compared to the planet-hunting we've done so far, it's VERY far away. lagomorph777 Oct 2021 #4

No Doubt About It ProfessorGAC Oct 2021 #5

It seems to be a lucky alignment with an unusually small source. lagomorph777 Oct 2021 #6

That's Probably True Of Many Of These Finds ProfessorGAC Oct 2021 #7

Glactically lucky (and starting with a galactic sample size). lagomorph777 Oct 2021 #8

the whirlpool galaxy is one of my mate's favorites stillcool Oct 2021 #2