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Earthlike planet found [news item]
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Found: An Earthlike Planet at Last - TIME
Found: An Earthlike Planet at Last
By Michael D. Lemonick Wednesday, Sep. 29, 2010
The star known as Gliese 581 is utterly unremarkable in just about every way you can imagine. It's a red dwarf, the most common type of star in the Milky Way, weighing in at about a third the mass of the Sun. At 20 light years or so away, it's relatively nearby, but not close enough to set any records (it's the 117th closest star to Earth, for what that's worth). You can't even see it without a telescope, so while it lies in direction of Libra, it isn't one of the shining dots you'd connect to form the constellation. It's no wonder that the star's name lacks even a whiff of mystery or romance.
But Gliese 581 does have one distinction — and that's enough to make it the focus of intense scientific attention. At last count, astronomers had identified more than 400 planets orbiting stars beyond the Sun, and Gliese 581 was host to no fewer than four of them — the most populous solar system we know of, aside than our own. That alone would make the star intriguing. But on Wednesday, a team of astronomers announced they'd found two more planets circling the star, bringing the total to six. And one of them, assigned the name Gliese 581g, may be of truly historic significance.
For one thing, the planet is only about three or four times as massive as our home world, meaning it probably has a solid surface just like Earth. Much more important, it sits smack in the middle of the so-called habitable zone, orbiting at just the right distance from the star to let water remain liquid rather than freezing solid or boiling away. As far as we know, that's a minimum requirement for the presence of life. For thousands of years, philosophers and scientists have wondered whether other Earths existed out in the cosmos. And since the first, very un-Eearthlike extrasolar planet was discovered in 1995, astronomers have been inching closer to answering that question. Now, they've evidently succeeded (although to be clear, there's no way at this point to determine whether there actually is life on the new planet).
"We're pretty excited about it," admits Steve Vogt, of the University of California, Santa Cruz, a member of the team, in a masterpiece of understatement. "I think this is what everyone's been after for the past 15 years."
Planetary scientist James Kasting, of Penn State University, who wasn't involved with the discovery, agrees. "I think they've scooped the Kepler people," he says. Kasting refers to the Kepler space telescope, launched into space early last year on a mission to determine how common Earthlike planets might be. The "Kepler people" have a number of candidate Earths in the can, but are still working to confirm them.
Being first isn't the main reason Vogt is excited, however. "Someone had to be first," he says. "But this is right next door to us. That's the big result." What's particularly big about it is a matter of simple arithmetic. With only 116 stars closer to Earth than this one, it was hardly a sure thing that so small a sample group would produce two habitable planets, including Earth. And two such planets may be an undercount, Vogt says, since just nine out of those 100-plus stars have been studied in any detail. Indeed, one of Gliese 581g's sister planets, known as Gliese 581d (OK, they truly don't put a lot of creative energy into naming these things) could conceivably be a habitable world itself.
One of the four planets known to orbit Gliese 581 before the latest discovery, 581d was found by a team of Swiss astronomers in 2007 and was thought to be outside the habitable zone, and thus too cold for liquid water. But a reanalysis last year brought it into the zone, albeit just barely. The problem is, Gliese 581d is also too big to be Earthlike; it's probably made mostly of nonwater ice, like Neptune and Uranus, which makes a poorer candidate for life than 581g.
Lost in the excitement over possible life on the new world is what a remarkable achievement its mere discovery was. Detecting a planet this small is monstrously hard—and would have been impossible when Vogt and co-discoverer Paul Butler, of the Carnegie Institution of Washington first got into the planet-hunting game in the early 1990s. The instruments you use to detect tiny back-and-forth motions in the star — motions caused by the orbiting planet's gravitational tugs, which are often the only way to infer that the worlds exist at all—simply weren't sensitive enough. Since then, though, says Vogt, "I've been busting my gut to improve the instruments, and Paul has been busting his got to do the observations." In all, those observations span more than 200 nights on the giant Keck I telescope in Hawaii over 11 years, supplemented by observations from the Geneva group — and that painstaking work finally confirmed 581g's existence.
None of this proves that there actually is water on Gliese 581g. "Those are things we just have to speculate about," says Vogt. But he goes on to point out that there's water pretty much everywhere else you look. "There's water on Earth," he says, "and on the Moon, and Mars, and on Jupiter's moon Europa and Saturn's moon Enceladus, and in interstellar space. There's enough water produced in the Orion Nebula every 24 seconds to fill the Earth's oceans."
It's not hard to imagine, in other words, that Gliese 581g might have plenty of water as well. "It could have quite a good ocean," Vogt says. Certainly, it could still be a sterile, non-biological ocean. But unlike any planet found until now, there's nothing to rule out the idea that could also be teeming with life.
Found: An Earthlike Planet at Last
By Michael D. Lemonick Wednesday, Sep. 29, 2010
The star known as Gliese 581 is utterly unremarkable in just about every way you can imagine. It's a red dwarf, the most common type of star in the Milky Way, weighing in at about a third the mass of the Sun. At 20 light years or so away, it's relatively nearby, but not close enough to set any records (it's the 117th closest star to Earth, for what that's worth). You can't even see it without a telescope, so while it lies in direction of Libra, it isn't one of the shining dots you'd connect to form the constellation. It's no wonder that the star's name lacks even a whiff of mystery or romance.
But Gliese 581 does have one distinction — and that's enough to make it the focus of intense scientific attention. At last count, astronomers had identified more than 400 planets orbiting stars beyond the Sun, and Gliese 581 was host to no fewer than four of them — the most populous solar system we know of, aside than our own. That alone would make the star intriguing. But on Wednesday, a team of astronomers announced they'd found two more planets circling the star, bringing the total to six. And one of them, assigned the name Gliese 581g, may be of truly historic significance.
For one thing, the planet is only about three or four times as massive as our home world, meaning it probably has a solid surface just like Earth. Much more important, it sits smack in the middle of the so-called habitable zone, orbiting at just the right distance from the star to let water remain liquid rather than freezing solid or boiling away. As far as we know, that's a minimum requirement for the presence of life. For thousands of years, philosophers and scientists have wondered whether other Earths existed out in the cosmos. And since the first, very un-Eearthlike extrasolar planet was discovered in 1995, astronomers have been inching closer to answering that question. Now, they've evidently succeeded (although to be clear, there's no way at this point to determine whether there actually is life on the new planet).
"We're pretty excited about it," admits Steve Vogt, of the University of California, Santa Cruz, a member of the team, in a masterpiece of understatement. "I think this is what everyone's been after for the past 15 years."
Planetary scientist James Kasting, of Penn State University, who wasn't involved with the discovery, agrees. "I think they've scooped the Kepler people," he says. Kasting refers to the Kepler space telescope, launched into space early last year on a mission to determine how common Earthlike planets might be. The "Kepler people" have a number of candidate Earths in the can, but are still working to confirm them.
Being first isn't the main reason Vogt is excited, however. "Someone had to be first," he says. "But this is right next door to us. That's the big result." What's particularly big about it is a matter of simple arithmetic. With only 116 stars closer to Earth than this one, it was hardly a sure thing that so small a sample group would produce two habitable planets, including Earth. And two such planets may be an undercount, Vogt says, since just nine out of those 100-plus stars have been studied in any detail. Indeed, one of Gliese 581g's sister planets, known as Gliese 581d (OK, they truly don't put a lot of creative energy into naming these things) could conceivably be a habitable world itself.
One of the four planets known to orbit Gliese 581 before the latest discovery, 581d was found by a team of Swiss astronomers in 2007 and was thought to be outside the habitable zone, and thus too cold for liquid water. But a reanalysis last year brought it into the zone, albeit just barely. The problem is, Gliese 581d is also too big to be Earthlike; it's probably made mostly of nonwater ice, like Neptune and Uranus, which makes a poorer candidate for life than 581g.
Lost in the excitement over possible life on the new world is what a remarkable achievement its mere discovery was. Detecting a planet this small is monstrously hard—and would have been impossible when Vogt and co-discoverer Paul Butler, of the Carnegie Institution of Washington first got into the planet-hunting game in the early 1990s. The instruments you use to detect tiny back-and-forth motions in the star — motions caused by the orbiting planet's gravitational tugs, which are often the only way to infer that the worlds exist at all—simply weren't sensitive enough. Since then, though, says Vogt, "I've been busting my gut to improve the instruments, and Paul has been busting his got to do the observations." In all, those observations span more than 200 nights on the giant Keck I telescope in Hawaii over 11 years, supplemented by observations from the Geneva group — and that painstaking work finally confirmed 581g's existence.
None of this proves that there actually is water on Gliese 581g. "Those are things we just have to speculate about," says Vogt. But he goes on to point out that there's water pretty much everywhere else you look. "There's water on Earth," he says, "and on the Moon, and Mars, and on Jupiter's moon Europa and Saturn's moon Enceladus, and in interstellar space. There's enough water produced in the Orion Nebula every 24 seconds to fill the Earth's oceans."
It's not hard to imagine, in other words, that Gliese 581g might have plenty of water as well. "It could have quite a good ocean," Vogt says. Certainly, it could still be a sterile, non-biological ocean. But unlike any planet found until now, there's nothing to rule out the idea that could also be teeming with life.
Gliese 581g
Bottle Water
I'm running with it!
Bottle Water
I'm running with it!
First!
Hey, if Aquafina can make millions off their filtered tap water, just think of what Gliese 581g bottled water would bring!
*sends vc funds your way*
You work on the trademark, I'll take care of the patent.
Awesome!! It'll be the next big thing our space program does!
Oh, wait. We cancelled that.
Never mind.
Well if you're not going I'm not going!
Awesome!! It'll be the next big thing our space program does!
Oh, wait. We cancelled that.
Never mind.
maybe Richard Branson can fly us there someday!
mustang_00
Well-known member
uuuuh so a planet bigger than earth CAN'T support life???? that sounds dumb considering all the giant shit out there. are scientists just pulling shit out of their asses? seems like they say something can't happen and then they find something or new evidence to support a theory and change it to "oooh well uuum durrr we were wrong, anythings possible."
seems like they don't know a lot of shit about our own solar system sometimes.
seems like they don't know a lot of shit about our own solar system sometimes.
i think there is hope when I hear things like this
20 light years is not that far
I believe we will have propulsion systems that will accelerate us just under light speed soon or in the next 53 years
and if you guys know it may be possible to get there is say 6-8 years ( yes I said 6-8 even though its 20 light years away)
20 light years is not that far
I believe we will have propulsion systems that will accelerate us just under light speed soon or in the next 53 years
and if you guys know it may be possible to get there is say 6-8 years ( yes I said 6-8 even though its 20 light years away)
stosstruppe
Well-known member
mustang_00
Well-known member
if we built something that traveled at half the speed of light it would take 40 years to travel 20 light years. (i know cause google told me so)
isn't the "rule" that someday we will be able to travel at the speed of light but no faster because it's impossible or some crapolla?
isn't the fastest space probe to date 35,000 mph. so we wouldn't get data back if sent to the new planet for close to 200 years.
knowing all that shit i'm officially let down. i was more excited when the McRib came back and i've NEVER even fucking ate one EVER.
isn't the "rule" that someday we will be able to travel at the speed of light but no faster because it's impossible or some crapolla?
isn't the fastest space probe to date 35,000 mph. so we wouldn't get data back if sent to the new planet for close to 200 years.
knowing all that shit i'm officially let down. i was more excited when the McRib came back and i've NEVER even fucking ate one EVER.
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Not 52 or 54 years bro? Are you privy to info the rest of us mere mortals aren't?!1
I dont like to use round numbers some time
We will be able too
as far as Light or Faster then light, untill we can fold space it wont happen
we have 2 option
just under light speed and space folding
ps hai
I'm sure Chesty, Nathan, and I would just love to hear the foundation for these, um, beliefs.
Actually, no, we wouldn't.
I'm sure Chesty, Nathan, and I would just love to hear the foundation for these, um, beliefs.
Actually, no, we wouldn't.
it's waaaaayyyy over your collective heads, brah!
digimon7068
New member
call me when they find a planet with beer on it, m'kay??
I'm sure Chesty, Nathan, and I would just love to hear the foundation for these, um, beliefs.
Actually, no, we wouldn't.
why would I want to spill the beans lol?
no thannks
I understand completely, man. Way too many feds here.
The government knows, man. THEY KNOW.
All that bent space like eight light minutes away was the last government fuckup. They couldn't achieve complete folding because the damn Russians fucked up the units on the metric tensor. ALL THOSE PEOPLE, DEAD.
I stopped poasting these because nobody cared
Me and my cult, care. We need to know these things.
digimon7068
New member
I understand completely, man. Way too many feds here.
The government knows, man. THEY KNOW.
All that bent space like eight light minutes away was the last government fuckup. They couldn't achieve complete folding because the damn Russians fucked up the units on the metric tensor. ALL THOSE PEOPLE, DEAD.
fixed
can't help you with any of that other shit...sounds like it's probably part of that whole "rocket science" thing people are always talking about when they say "i ain't no rocket scientist".
haha
mustang_00
Well-known member
it was also said that the scientists who discovered the new planet already "evaluated" it's rotation and the rotation surrounding stars made and 1 year on the planet = 32 or 37 days
so the "theory" on the history channel of people living to be in their thousands COULD be possible if you count by earth years which wouldn't really be fair on a new planet. then again stupid mofo's are always talking about dog years...
so the "theory" on the history channel of people living to be in their thousands COULD be possible if you count by earth years which wouldn't really be fair on a new planet. then again stupid mofo's are always talking about dog years...
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