Re: Number of low eccentricity distant planets

Gene Hatch wrote:

> Sadly, my math seems to be rusting away, and I don't know If it was ever

> good enough to figure this. My intuition, though, makes me think that a 
> planet with a highly eccentric orbit would be easier to detect (using 
> stellar doppler ****ft) than one with a circular orbit of similar period.

> Am I full of crap?

You're probably right, though there are several interacting effects 
here.  An eccentric orbit would result in greater speeds at periapsis, 
but they'd be briefer.  So they spikes would be more prominent, but 
they'd be easier to miss without more sampling.  I'm guessing it'd make 
them more easy to detect.

On the other hand, the selection effect is significant, since our 
methods of detection so far only allow us to detect large bodies, close 
in.  These objects will tend to have orbits that have been circularized 
through tidal forces by their primary, so we're not seeing the true
picture.

-- 
Erik Max Francis && max@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
 && http://www.alcyone.com/max/
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   But in matters fundamental / We are patterned on an old design
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