Newly discovered Jupiter twin hints of a new solar system to our solar system

A group of astronomers used ESO 3.6 meter telescope to identify a planet similar to our Jupiter orbiting a Sun-like star at the same distance similar to our Jupiter from Sun.  The star name is HIP-11915.

As per the present theories, the formation of Jupiter like heavy mass planets play an important role in shaping the architecture of planetary systems.   The existence of a Jupiter like planet in a Jupiter-like orbit around a Sun-like star opens up the possibility of a system of planets around that star may be similar to our Solar System.   The Star HIP 11915 is about the same age as our Sun and its composition is similar to Sun which suggests that there may be rocky planets orbiting around that star.

As per the most recent theories, the arrangement of our Solar System, so supportive to life, was made possible due to the presence of Jupiter and the gravitational influence of this gas giant exerted on our Solar System during the formative years.  There fore it would seem that finding a Jupiter twin is an important milestone in finding a planetary system similar to our own Solar System.

The Jupiter twin is 200 light years from our Earth.  The image below shows an artist's impression of the Jupiter twin orbiting around the Sun like star..

ISRO's heaviest commercial launch successful by the launch of PSLV-C28 carrying 5 UK satellites

ISRO has once again demonstrated their capability to launch commercial satellites.  The ISRO's commercial launch capability has raised to a new height when the PSLV-C28 launch vehicle successfully 5 UK satellites into their orbits.  

The Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV), in its thirtieth flight (PSLV-C28) carrying three identical  satellites (DMC3 ) which are optical earth observation satellites built by  Surrey Satellite Technology Limited (SSTL), United Kingdom (UK) has lifted off from Satish Dhawan Space Center, Sriharikota at 09:58 PM on Friday, 10th July, 2015.  The PSLV-C28 also carried 2 more nano satellites.   .  The three DMC3 satellites, each weighing 447 kg, launched into a 647 km Sun-Synchronous Orbit (SSO) using the high-end version of PSLV (PSLV-XL) from Satish Dhawan Space Centre, Sriharikota (SDSC-SHAR), the spaceport of India. PSLV-C28 will be the ninth flight of  PSLV in ‘XL’ configuration.  

The other two satellites are CBNT-1 which is a mocro satellite and a technology demonstrator nano satellite called as DeorbitSail built by SSTL.   This is the heaviest commercial undertaken by ISRO which makes ISRO as a major player in space industry globally and also is a leading foreign exchange earner for the country.

The overall lift off mass of the five satellites works out to 1440 Kg. which is the heaviest commercial payload undertaken till now. 

Accommodating the three DMC3 satellites each with a height of about 3 metre within the existing payload fairing of PSLV, was a challenge. To mount these satellites onto the launcher, a circular Launcher adaptor called as L-adaptor and a triangular deck called Multiple Satellite Adapter-Version 2 (MSA-V2), were newly designed and realized by ISRO for this specific purpose.

These international customer satellites have been launched as part of the arrangement entered into between DMC International Imaging (DMCii), a wholly owned subsidiary of SSTL, UK; and Antrix Corporation Limited (Antrix), the commercial arm of Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), a Government of India Company under Department of Space.

DMC3

The DMC3 constellation, comprising of three advanced mini-satellites DMC3-1, DMC3-2 and DMC3-3, is designed to address the need for simultaneous high spatial resolution and high temporal resolution optical Earth Observation. Launched into a single Low-Earth Orbit plane and phased with a separation of 120° between them, these satellites can image any target on the Earth’s surface every day. Major application areas include surveying the resources on earth and its environment, managing urban infrastructure and monitoring of disasters.

CBNT-1, weighing 91 kg, is an optical Earth Observation technology demonstration micro satellite built by SSTL. The 7 kg De-orbitSail from Surrey Space Centre, is an experimental nano satellite for demonstration of large thin membrane sail and drag deorbiting using this sail.

  Here is a video of the PSLV-C28 launch...