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Astronomers find 11.2 billion-year-old solar system
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The tightly packed system, named Kepler-444, is home to five small planets in very compact orbits. The planets were detected from the dimming that occurs when they transit the disc of their parent star, as shown in this artist's conception. - photo by Natalie Crofts
BIRMINGHAM, England An ancient solar system with five rocky planets was recently discovered by astronomers.

The system, called Kepler-444, is believed to have formed 11.2 billion years ago, making it the oldest known system of terrestrial-sized planets, according to NASA. The discovery was made by researchers from the University of Birmingham in England using data from NASAs Kepler mission.

There are far-reaching implications for this discovery, lead researcher Tiago Campante said in a statement. We now know that Earth-sized planets have formed throughout most of the Universe's 13.8 billion year history, which could provide scope for the existence of ancient life in the Galaxy.

By the time the Earth formed, the planets in this system were already older than our planet is today, he continued. This discovery may now help to pinpoint the beginning of what we might call the era of planet formation.

The five planets are similar in size to Earth and have tight orbits around a Sun-like star, according to researchers. They measured small changes in the stars brightness to determine the size of the planets and age of the system.

The planets all take less than 10 days to orbit the systems sun, NASA reported.

"While this star formed a long time ago, in fact before most of the stars in the Milky Way, we have no indication that any of these planets have now or ever had life on them," NASA scientist Steve Howell said in a statement. "At their current orbital distances, life as we know it could not exist on these ancient worlds."

The findings were published in The Astrophysical Journal.
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Have You Seen This? Street musician slays with clarinet
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Better than almost every face-melting guitar or drum solo. - photo by Facebook video screenshot

THE BIG EASY — Yeah, yeah, we all know that New Orleans is stuffed to the gills will incredible musicians.

But knowing that fact and then hearing that fact are two different things. You can step into any number of jazz clubs on any given night on Bourbon Street, and you’ll probably be impressed with virtually every act. Or you can sit at home on your comfy couch and watch this featured video.

In the video, you’ll see a woman who is in the groove. She is swinging hard, and wailing on her clarinet with a practiced expertise that makes it sounds so easy.

From note one you’ll be drawn in; your appreciation will grow with every second, and then your face will melt off when you realize how incredible she really is.

If you’ve never played a woodwind or a brass, you may not know everything that comes with a performance like this. Lung capacity and breath control are huge factors in keeping your notes clear and loud, and hitting those high notes is especially difficult.

So when this woman hits that high note and holds it for several seconds, you know you’re dealing with an exceptional musician. It means she has worked hard for years to develop skill on top of her natural talent, and we get to benefit.

It kinda makes you wonder how we let people get away with mumble rap and autotune when talent like this exists in the world.

I wish this video were longer, and I wish I had more information about this woman, but as it is, we’ll just have to appreciate the little flavor of New Orleans jazz posted by the Facebook group Clarinet Life.

Street musician killing it on clarinet

She must have lungs of iron! Its inspiring hearing the upper registers being played so well.

Posted by Clarinet Life on Tuesday, December 11, 2018

Martha Ostergar is a writer who delights in the ridiculous that internet serves up, which means she's more than grateful that she gets to cruise the web for amazing videos to highlight for your viewing pleasure.
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