Planet Found in Double Star System

Daniel Dvorkin writes "CNN is reporting that a planet has been found in a double star system. I know, another extrasolar planet -- whoopee! But this one is different since it is in a double star system, and because given the size of the stars (the larger one is about 1.6 times as big as the Sun), the orbit (a little bigger than that of Mars), and the planet (somewhat bigger than Jupiter) it seems very possible that the planet might have a moon of roughly Earth's size and climate. I believe this is the first discovery that comes close to matching those criteria."

Comments

This might sound kinda crazy

[Apreche]

But I think it's sort of pointless to look for earth-ish planets. I know that we're looking for existing life or possible places to live, but isn't it very possible there is some sort of life that lives in a drastically different environment than we do? There could very well be some crazy lifeform that lives on gas giants.
Not only that, but all of the plaets outside our solar system are many light-years away. It takes way too long to get to them. I think time would be much better spent on figuring out how to live in unfavorable places, or change their climate to be favorable to our life. A moon colony seems a lot more likely, possible, and useful in the near future than some planet a google light years away.

Re:This might sound kinda crazy

[Graymalkin]

Who is talking short term besides you? Planet hunters are well aware they're not likely to set foot on a planet they discover orbiting a distant star. They're not thinking they are going to find Earth 2 and fly there. They don't look because of that. They look because they just want to see if we're really as unique as we think we are. We've gone from thinking the Earth was flat and at the center of the universe to knowing it is shaped sort of like a pear and is housed inside of a normal galaxy which turned out to not even look like we originally thought it did. Now we're seeing that not only are we not at the center which the universe revolves but there are planets orbiting stars other than our own. The next step is to find out that we're not the only intelligent group of amino acids and sugar molecules putzing around our galaxy. Hell, we're probably not the only group of self organizing amino acids and sugars putzing around our solar system.

A moon colony has nothing to do with looking for extra solar planets. Compared to the cost of sending a bunch of stuff into space to crash into the moon in order to build stuff on it building stuff on Earth to look up at light coming from the sky is much more likely, possible, and useful in the near future.

Re:This might sound kinda crazy

[Tsar]

Or we could just change ourselves to match the climate. Has to be easier than developing terraforming technology capable of dealing with all the environments we may encounter...

Why would you assume this? AFAIK, the only seriously-proposed near-term genetic engineering techniques have been the equivalent of cutting and pasting, or commenting and uncommenting, lines of programming code. What you're describing would require the ability to design whole new capabilities (methane-breathing, for example) into the genome. Of course, that would require the redesign of the entire system, so even if we can eventually pull it off, you've simply created a new species loosely based on homo sapiens, and essentially left all those "new worlds" closed to the rest of us. What's the point?

Why would we take such a tack on other worlds when we don't even attempt it with mildly inhospitable Earth environments? Is your air conditioner or heater on right now? Is your tap water purified and chlorinated? It would be easier to simply adapt to your local climate and water supply than to develop refrigeration and water purification technologies, but the former limits you to living somewhat comfortably in one climate only, while the latter allows you to travel to any climate without harmful exposure to the elements.

You may be a bit more adventurous than I, but if spaceflight were cheap and fast, I'd have to be pretty convinced that Planet X3141 was the one before I'd submit my progeny to be genetically engineered for its environment. Call me a Luddite, I guess.

Re:This might sound kinda crazy

[Monkelectric]

oh I can see it now ... girlswithgills.com and "HOT NON-TERRAN TEENS WANT YOU" spam.

Other habitable zone planets?

[Jason T. Wright]

it seems very possible that the planet might have a moon of roughly Earth's size and climate. I believe this is the first discovery that comes close to matching those criteria."

You believe wrongly.

HD28185 b and IotaHor b both could support moons with liquid water, year-round.

HD27442 b (aka Epsilon Reticulum) could also do it.

Other planets visit their star's habitable zones, too. Even though most of these other planets have eccentric orbits which would take them in and out periodically, they still "come close to matching those criteria".

Also a much better link to details of the Gamma Cephei system can be found here.