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Earth-Like Planet That Could Sustain Life Found
astroengine writes "An exoplanet, 20 to 50 percent the mass of Earth, has been discovered 20 light-years away and it appears to have all the ingredients conducive to sustaining life. It has enough gravitational clout to hold onto an atmosphere and it orbits well within the 'Goldilocks Zone' of its parent star. However, it would be a very different place to Earth; it is tidally locked to its star, creating one perpetual day on the world. Interestingly, this may also boost the life-giving qualities of the exoplanet, creating stable temperatures in its atmosphere."
One less thing to worry about.
This is where I stopped reading:
"Personally, given the ubiquity and propensity of life to flourish wherever it can, I would say that the chances for life on this planet are 100 percent. I have almost no doubt about it," Steven Vogt, professor of astronomy and astrophysics at University of California Santa Cruz, told Discovery News.
Chances are 100%. Almost no doubt.
I get how they can discover planets by the stars wobble or transitting the star, but how can they tell the planets rate of spin?
Star Trek fans will know such a planet as "Class M".
The "M" stood for Majel (Roddenberry nee Barrett) who, in Gene Roddenberry's words, "made his life possible".
20 light years is millimeters of astrophysical distance.
It amazes me we have been observing space so long and yet we only now have detected this planet.
It just goes to show how incredibly likely it is to find planets like Earth everywhere in the galaxy.
Really.. I thought life & evolution and development thrived on change...
a little flooding, many die, some adapt
a little freezing, many die, some adapt.
more-- the 'kickstart' of inorganic->organic chemistry, presumably took some random event, a one in five gazzillion possible combination of elements, random elements- that likely would be less likely the more stable an environment it is..
nice flat temp? ya get algae & molds.... no need to improve right? why?
every day http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:Random
The summary is incorrect. The exoplanet has "a mass three times larger than Earth's", not 20% to 50%
Ethics aside, wouldn't it be easier to genetically modify humans to live in a wider variety of environments? Seems like it would be a far more reachable goal in the near term than getting to these distant planets.
"20 to 50 percent the mass of Earth" != "a mass three times larger than Earth's"
My math might be a little off, but if we accelerated at g half-way there and decelerated at g for the rest of the way, it would only take a ship about 6.04 years to get there. But thanks to Einstein ruining all our space travel fun with relativity, we of us left on Earth would think the journey took 21.86 years. So there and back would seem like 43.7 years to us.
Tidally locked means that even with an atmosphere the dark side will be *very* cold and
most of the water will likely end up frozen on the dark side of the planet.
Space sucks because there's no screwin', no drinkin', and no smokin'
On second thought, with our loss of liberties, earth will soon suck, too.
What one fool can do, another can. (Ancient Simian Proverb)
Just 20 light years away is good news! One thing that always bothers me when I read about E.T. life, is the fact that we get excited when we find water or an Earth-like atmosphere somewhere, thinking there should/might be life there. We should factor in the possibility that life may evolve entirely differently from us, without requiring water or nitrogen/oxygen. In that case though, we can't really know how it will have evolved as we have no reference of evolution other than ours. So let's wait, or just go there as soon as we can as aliens.
With a mass three times larger than Earth's, the newly discovered world has the muscle to hold atmosphere. (article)
An exoplanet, 20 to 50 percent the mass of Earth, has been discovered 20 light-years away... (summary)
My limited imagination has problems seeing how such a misstake can come about. Is the summary from a completely different article than what it links to? I also like
I would say that the chances for life on this planet are 100 percent
...as a good example of how to pull numbers out of your butt.
Venus and Mars are also rocky "Earthlike" planets orbiting roughly in the habzone ("goldilocks" zone).
I'd like to see truly terrestrial planets as much as (more than, probably) the next guy, but I think the reportage here is a bit hyped. Especially given a ~3x mass, that gives it roughly 1.44x the surface gravity (and higher likelihood of a Venus-like atmosphere).
-- Alastair
Spin up the stargate and dial it!
It just doesn't have that "ring." Do you have another name for it?
This is the NSA, we're gonna geet U h@x0r5! Also, what is a h@x0r5?
What are the odds that alien astronomers on that world are having their exact same story posted on Alien Slashdot®!?
Anyone up for a pickup basketball game on 581g?
Well, since the star's only 20 light years away and the previous post noted that the Aussies are testing "Space Beer", you can sign me up for the trip. Maybe by the time we get back the Toronto Maple Leafs will have won the Stanley Cup.
OK, OK, I'm kidding about the Leafs.
I've calculated my velocity with such exquisite precision that I have no idea where I am.
intriguing is the fact that we are studying the planet as it was 20 years ago, not as it is present day. In roughly 100 years we've managed to screw up this planet to no end. Things could be quite different on gliese 581g at this moment and we would not know it. Assuming we could travel at the speed of light and made it there in 20 years, the inhabitants may have already turned most of the planet to concrete and smog. If it is indeed inhabited.
boycott slashdot February 10th - 17th check out: altSlashdot.org
So could the sun. If it weren't so damn hot.
Wherever you are on this planet, the sun is in the same position all the time. You have very stable zones where the ecosystem stays the same temperature... basically forever
Unless the planet has moons (causing wind and ocean currents), or geological activity, or the sun's energy varies (sunspots, solar wind), or about a hundred other things that cause weather. Seems to me one side constantly being pummeled by sunlight wouldn't be anything but a desert. Maybe a ring of habitability around the area where the light side meets the dark side. But that's not really my field of expertise so take this with a grain of salt.
So is this were those Grey bastards come from? The ones who keep abducting me, and sticking probes up my ass!
We have only ONE place that we know life flourishes.
In addition, since the planet always has the same side facing the sun, the lack of tidal pumping means the crust of the planet is locked, which means no plate tectonics, which means no CO2 recycling, which means a Venus-like planet.
Sorry, but unless you can find life living with zero free water and temperatures hot enough to melt lead, fuggedaboudit.
"Interestingly, this may also boost the life-giving qualities of the exoplanet, creating stable temperatures in its atmosphere."
I don't get why that boosts life-giving qualities.
Having unstable temperatures in our atmosphere doesn't seem to have impeded life.
In fact stable temperatures may be a bad thing.
It takes instability to produce the mixing of organic molecules that result in biomass. Lightning. Tidal flow. Wind.
But there's no indication this new planet lacks those. Except the tidal part. Unless it has a big moon. And water.
The B-Ark now has a destination!
I actually work quite closely with 2 of the authors of the paper that reports these results. Any questions? I'll try to respond to posts between now and 2 October.
Well, there's lawyers covered, then.
Cheers,
"What in the name of Fats Waller is that?"
"A four-foot prune."
I'm absolutly baffled that this kind of comments are so rare on slashdot.
But at this rate of discovery, it wont be that long before the Stargate series needs to adapt to the real world, eh.
besides for the general assumption that life needs an energy source, water in some form, and about 20 or so elements... all of our knowledge and understanding is based on a sample size of ONE. when and hopefully if we do discover extraterrestrial life it may be very similar or very different, which basically for right now means nothing.
here's hoping that within my lifetime we will find *something*. and my guess is it will be indirect evidence from things like the terrestrial planet finder, etc. we aren't getting there to see fissionable prokaryotic cells anytime soon. and little green men are almost an several orders of magnitude further away.
I just won a wager with a colleague we'd find something like this in our lifetimes. My mind is still boggling.
Science FTW. Isn't it just awesome that humanity can detect something similar to size of earth tens of light years away, with methods that are highly limited and a very tiny focus of our total scientific endeavour. Queue frenzied rush on exoplanet research.
After logging in slashdot still does not take you back to the page you were on. It's been that way for 20 years.
Right on. I would even add that perhaps the moon is fundamental to the creation of life.
There was a time when the moon was much closer to the earth, when tides were hundreds of meters high.
There are theories that life might have been created first when some clay crystals with the right shape got stuck with some complex organic molecules.
Maybe if there were no moon, then no complex organic molecules would have reached the right clays.
According to the accepted theories, the moon may have been created in a freak accident, when a Mars-sized planet hit the earth in the early solar system. The combination of a moon-forming impact with being right in the liquid water zone could be an improbable event.
I'm much more interested in the possibilities of exploring alternate Earths. Somewhere, I'm just SURE I'll find a world where everyone in the U.S. uses the evolved form of the Amiga, with Dvorak keyboards in Esperanto. And the metric system. I'm dying for a McDonalds Royale (hold the cheese and pickles), with a medium Dr. Pepper with pure cane sugar (no ice).
Maybe the alternate world in Fringe will be a good start, only less fascist. I love the dirigibles and the NYC skyline.
I'm 100% sure that the girls there will have 3 breasts: I'm almost positive! Of course they won't look good unless they're young, tall and have long arms...
Of course, if Kirk's been there already, it'll all just be sloppy seconds.
soylentnews.org Go there to enjoy the people!
So does he have to sleep with you, or you with him?
soylentnews.org Go there to enjoy the people!
This appears to be the closest, semi-habital planet outside our solar system we have found so far. So all the haters taking about tides, 3x earth mass etc... just chill out. This is a great find and hopefully the data we get back the gravitational shifting will help us find more of these in the near future.
My what exciting times we live in. Just think... it has only been around 100 years since we realized the universe is organized into galaxies. Only a few hundred since we realized that the Earth is not the center of the universe. Sometimes it is hard to have faith in the future... but discoveries like this touch that small part of me that hasn't become jaded.
See my journal for slashdot ID's by year. Mine created in 2005. http://slashdot.org/journal/289875/slashdot-ids-by-year
Yeah, I think there is some confusion here. The MSNBC article states "If the planet has a rocky composition like Earth's, it would be 1.2 to 1.4 times as wide as our own planet, qualifying it as a "super-Earth.""
That's the problem with science articles on the general web, many skip facts that others contain. Even PhysOrg didn't seem to bother with this estimation but god only knows who's predicting this kind of thing too.
In any case, we are much too early on to think about sending anything it's way. We have so much we can do with observation today before we go launching anything. And in just a few years we'll gain even more insight from James Webb once it's in place. Let's no go off half cocked on this.
Dedicated Cthulhu Cultist since 4523 BC.
While a stable climate might be great for sustaining life, it seems that the lack of change may also be the very detrimental from an evolutionary point of view since there is less of a need for adaptation. It makes me wonder what sort of life such a planet could sustain, assuming there is life. Would it be very diverse? Or would it be like a field of genetically engineered corn that could be wiped out with the slightest change in growing conditions?
First, TFS is wrong. This planet is 3 to 5 times the mass of the Earth, not 30%.
The article also won't tell you what is speculation and what they've actually seen. The planet was detected through radial velocity measurement of the star. That pretty much means the only thing that has been measured is the planetary mass times the sine of the inclination of its orbit relative to the sun-Gl581 line. Hence the large uncertainty.
When they talk about atmospheres they are speculating. There is no way to tell if this planet has an atmosphere, although the large mass helps the case. There's no way to tell if the planet is covered in an 100 mile deep ocean or if it is entirely dry other than by speculating based upon the composition of the host star. With no eclipses and a small planet to star distance it's going to be a while before we know for sure about either.
When they are talking about tidal locking they are also speculating. While the planet would almost certainly be tidally locked to the star if it were the only planet in the system, it could exist in an orbital resonance with another planet that throws off the tidal locking, or it could have a large moon in close orbit, which would also do the job.
I also haven't looked to see which version of the habitable zone definition they are using. I would suspect the run-away greenhouse to ice-line version.
Support SETI@home
If the planet is tidally locked, there would be permanent shade on the dark side, and on the shady side of any mountains near the terminator line, which would provide UV shielding of a sort.
And even with no tidally induced tectonics, might there not be some thermally induced tectonics, depending on how hot things get on the sunny side? All that heat has gotta go somewhere, possibly leading to magma convection...
Cheers,
"What in the name of Fats Waller is that?"
"A four-foot prune."
So, first we have reports about UFOs sightings over nuclear silos, then the UN appointing an Alien Ambassador (promptly denied), and then a nearby life-sustaining planet is announced...
Hmmm.... if they start rerunning ALF on prime time, we're in business!
who knows how many earth like planets are out there if any. and if there turns out to be alot of them then it proves no life forms have figured out high speed space travel.you gotta rember we have only looked at roughly 1% of everything out there. and them clamming another earth like even in that small window says something. conserding the big bang was supposed to be the start of it all it would mean all life would be evolved around the same time line give or take a few million years. so i dought we will find any super evloved lifeforms but probably around the same evolution as us.
20 light years is *about* 1.25 million AU. Voyager is 113 AU from the sun, in under 4 years it will be 125 AU from the sun. If we pretended Voyager 1 was heading the in right direction it would be 1/10000 of the way there. Or if we imagined that the planet was 10 meters away, Voyager has travelled 1mm of the way there. About 350000 AD, it would arrive!
Sweet, now we only have to find out a way to get there so that we may proceed with the ruination of that planet, too! Honestly, I think that we should just fix some of the problems we have here, rather than thinking about ways to migrate to other planets and ruin them with our current idiotic ways.
Filthy, filthy copyrapists!
Earth-like planet, huh? I can't decide which Jack Handey quote works best:
"Whether they ever find life there or not, I think Jupiter [read: Earth-like planet] should be considered an enemy planet."
"I can picture in my mind a world without war, a world without hate. And I can picture us attacking that world, because they'd never expect it."
-kgj
Walk through, and a body weight of 90kg's will suddenly turn into 270kg's. Man, I'd just crumple onto the ground and claw my way back.
That'd be a bummer of a showstopper.
So all sun on one side and all dark on the other? I don't care what's in the atmosphere, it's unliveably hot on one side and unliveably cold on the other. There's got to be hundreds of degrees of difference. Life absolutely could not survive there except possibly in the ring that's between the dark and light areas.
Google's Super Secret Search Algorithm: SELECT @search_results FROM internet WHERE @search_results = 'good'
Look, I performed some of the first in-depth analysis of the Gliese 876 system. The inner two planets there are tidally-locked- there's no independent rotation. One side is searing hot (and thus barren), and the other side is frozen solid. The fact of the matter is that abiogenesis (as we understand it) requires a dynamic, liquid/gas H2O environment. This guy's shenanigans about "stable zones" existing between the hot and the cold is utter bullshit. Even if life could develop and then evolve to exist in the "stable zones", you have to remember that this isn't a single planet solar system. The gravitational influence of the other planets coupled with a fast orbital period could cause our poor 581g to wobble even under tidal lock; this would cause the "stable zones" on 581g to shift. In other words, there would be no stable zones. Self-replicating molecules as we know them would not even have the chance to chemically bootstrap.
just to get the ball rolling, how would life in a planet inhabited only by lawyers be?
For one thing, disputes would get resolved in a non-violent fashion. Say what you want about lawyers, but they don't bomb you, machinegun you, or knife you. Hyperbole aside, a system run by those detested critters would probably be a much better system than one run by fine, upstanding do-gooders with guns.
Read the EFF's Fair Use FAQ
Statistically, one planet doesn't make a trend.
Ok, two including the one we're standing on. But still, we've searched and found two within 20 light years of each other. That's a teensy tiny bit of space to use to extrapolate out to the other 156 billion light years.
All that finding does is give one hope and a good reason to keep looking. Find a few dozen nearby and maybe you could figure out a local density of goldilocks planets. And by nearby I mean a few hundred light years. And by local I mean our little slice of the milky way. Maybe the spiral arm we're in. Things will be drastically different as you near the galactic center. There may be no such thing as a habitable planet near the core with the change in radiation density and more frequent and closer supernovae and the like.
Weaselmancer
rediculous.
Our magnetic field deflects most of the mean stuff that comes from our parent star, and greatly contributes to the circumstance that we are not fried on a daily basis. Does this planet has something like that, or is the surface like a microwave oven, which would sterilize it effectively?
My first thought was that if there is intelligent life on this planet, I would imagine that the part of the surface that has the sun directly above it would make a damn fine place to put solar panels. And the rim between the dark and light sides should generate some excellent wind power.
Since the planet is in fact three times as massive as Earth, we might find life on it, but we probably wouldn't be able to colonize it in any case. Try permanently living on a planet where everything weighs three times what it does normally.
why exactly do we care?
Gliese 581d was the last big discovery in this system. So what makes Gliese 581g more likely to support life? Just how many life supporting planets can there be in that system? I would say that between Gliese 581d and Gliese 581g we have more than enough reason to launch an Orion style nuclear pulse probe toward the Gliese 581 system. I wish that as humans we could just get together, pool our resources, and build the friggin thing. In a couple of centuries we would know if we have company in this little corner of the Milky Way. It's the first time we've had such a good target to shoot for. Only 20 light years away and not one but possibly two habitable planets. It definitely seems like the most interesting target that is that close by. We've already sent a radio message to the Gliese 581 system. We'll have to wait at least 40 years for a response.
Quite an experience to live in fear, isn't it? That's what it is to be a slave.
Wow. On what work do you cite that 60/40 number?
Ask yourself this question astronomer, if it is so easy for life to arise then why has it only happened on earth ONCE?
4 billions of years of time, all kinds of habitats...one chirality.
What's wrong with the answer, hey it might be nice there, and let it go with a We don't know.
Well, I'm not even going to consider moving there until I know what broadband coverage is like there.
This seams like a job for an "Orion class" spaceship.
http://www.ted.com/talks/lang/eng/george_dyson_on_project_orion.html
lets say it takes 1000yers to get there, and assuming 3 generations every 100 years. This planet is _only_ 30 generations away
Its time to throw-away/rewrite a lot of books out there! Some very old.
I found this really interesting section on Wikipedia. I thought I'd copy it before some Aspie deleted it because of "no original research" or some crap:
Extrasolar planets were discovered orbiting the red dwarf Gliese 581 in 2005, about the mass of Neptune, or sixteen Earth masses. It orbits just 6 million kilometers (0.04 AU) from its star, and so is estimated to have a surface temperature of 150 C, despite the dimness of the star. In 2006, an even smaller extrasolar planet (only 5.5 times the mass of Earth) was found orbiting the red dwarf OGLE-2005-BLG-390L; it lies 390 million km (2.6 AU) from the star and its surface temperature is 220 C (56 K).
In 2007, a new, potentially habitable extrasolar planet, Gliese 581 c, was found, orbiting Gliese 581. If the minimum mass estimated by its discoverers (a team led by Stephane Udry), namely 5.36 times that of the Earth, is correct, it is the smallest extrasolar planet revolving around a normal star discovered to date and since then Gliese 581 d was discovered which is also potentially habitable. (There are smaller planets known around a neutron star, named PSR B1257+12.) The discoverers estimate its radius to be 1.5 times that of the Earth.
Gliese 581 c and Gliese 581 d are within the habitable zone of Gliese 581, and are the most likely candidates for habitability of any extrasolar planet discovered so far.[8]
An announcement in Physorg September 29, 2010 describes the discovery of a remarkable new planet: Gliese 581 g. [9] It has a near-circular orbit in the middle of the star's habitable zone and liquid water could occur in some regions on its surface. If confirmed, this would be the most Earth-like exoplanet yet discovered, and the first strong case for a potentially habitable one. Gliese 581 g has a mass three to four times that of Earth and an orbit of about 37 days. It is probably a rocky planet with plenty of gravity to retain a more massive atmosphere than Earth. However, as to be expected for a planet in close orbit round a red dwarf, it is tidally locked, with one face perpetually in darkness and cold, probably covered in glaciers of frozen atmosphere. The implications for the possibility of life on the planet are complex and uncertain. The greatest point of uncertainty is not whether an environment as stable and varied as the surface of that planet could sustain life, but whether the radiation supplied by a red dwarf could generate life in the first place.
In the light of recent proposals suggesting that life on earth might have originated near submarine hotspots[10][11], that objection might fall away, and other considerations raise intriguing possibilities on the assumption that life had indeed been established on Gliese 581 g. The fact that the planet is tidally locked, and that the sun is a red dwarf, suggests that the system might well be very old in comparison to Earth, and that physical conditions in its various zones should be enormously stable. There would have been ample opportunity for life forms to have colonised a large range of ecological niches.
Some of those niches could be very rich and accommodating. Given such a relatively high planetary gravitation, the mass of frozen gases and liquids on the night side of the planet should form glaciers all around the twilight limb of the planet. As the material encroached on the warm side, it would variously melt and volatilise, leaving moisture- and mineral-rich moraines in an effectively permanent system supplying energy and material to a potentially vast number of organisms. A sort of Amazon-scale ecology girdling the planet throughout the twilight zone, possibly petering out towards the hotter areas of the periastral face of the planet, or equally possibly, intensifying towards its centre.
All such points are subject to speculation, but the only strong grounds for pessimism arise from the uncertainty of the generation of life on the planet in the first place. Should there indeed be no life on the planet, the glacial behaviour at least, on the assumption that the planetary atmosphere is thick enough to support any, should in any case be intriguing. However, consider some of the points discussed in the section dealing with habitability.
Just think, its only a 30-generation journey away. Almost seems like nothing doesn't it?
But it'd be just my luck to take off with the wife and kids and get almost out there, you know, 15-18 light years or so... and everything is looking good... when she'd look over at me with *that* look-- you know the one-- the one that says "Honey, we gotta turn around, I think we left the oven on."
is that on the start menu???
I'll wait until they figure out how to prevent my bones turning into papier mache and my gastrointestinal tract from malfunctioning.
I think you think it'll be like Star Trek when it would be a fair bit worse than Das Boot with no opportunity to 'surface'.
This is coming after a command unit for created for "in case of" situation that we make first contact.
What if we had made first contact, the team was thrown together in order to have some sort of order
and the "others" have told us where they live (this planet), so we are now seeing the government
leak out info slowly in increments to get us used to the idea that aliens are already here....
Then again, I watched too much xfiles when i was a kid.
Why does the summary say "20 to 50 percent the mass of Earth" when TFA says "a mass three times larger than Earth's"?
so wouldn't one side of the planet be scorched and the dark side frozen? not exactly great conditions for life.
Anyone read Seeker by Jack McDevitt? Reminds me of the planet discovered in the end that was tidally locked and the civilization there never really develop astronomy as they couldn't see the stars (always daylight).
We barely got the means to find exoplanets, but wouldn't have a LACK of tidal lock in the presence of a large and fast rotating satellite? Any chance to focus on that?
AC
So I am guessing something along the lines of either the Day side is a bastion of science and light, and the dark is of magic and darkness or perhaps the kind and civilized Eloi live on the day side while the savage and evil Morlocks live on the night side...
All I am saying is we cannot discount the idea of a world machine in the centre of the world which if you apply a funny sounding key will cause the world to rotate, thus making it even more earthlike!
Good question, I think you should go off yourself.
Funny thing about ALF - aka Gordon Shumway - ALF may be back on 3D HDTV!!
Given the unusual number of remake TV series in this 2010 US Fall TV premiere season - a recent street poll on network news reported that ALF was the most recognizable TV character from the late 1980s.
Technically, on 3D HDTV, ALF's virtual hair simulation and vocalizations will be a snap to do in realtime with a rack of Sony PS3's. A virtualized ALF will make it a lot easier to do multiple takes of ALF scarfing ham pies and kissing babies.
BACKSTORY:
For several years now, Paul Fusco, ALF's creator and puppet master, has been in discussions for a feature film with ALF to be followed by a new TV series.
Rumor on the series is that ALF is waiting for Jay Leno to give him the Tonight Show baton in person as soon as Comcast greases NBC Universal's Jeff Zucker. Basically, Comcast would be cutting costs by out-sourcing the Tonight Show to a space alien who only needs to be paid in cats.
Shortly after that UNOOSA will consider the nomination of ALF as Earth's first ET greeter, since as a mechanical-trans-virtual, ALF would be impervious to space-borne infections - and jabs from FoxNews.
Why is that important?
Per the 1967 International Treaty on Space, alien visitors would be subject to "sterilization" as determined by UNOOSA -- which sounds peculiarly unfriendly if you just arrived on Earth to exercise the right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of "happiness" -- and happen to have a stardrive pointed at UN HQ to guarantee timely Viagra deliveries to the launch pad.
A mecha ALF space ambassador would allow humans a chance to get to know the aliens on 3D HDTV before UNOOSA decides any space aliens require "sterilization" - or simply issued a visitor visa. Honestly, NASA's Robonaut 2 just doesn't cut it on the personality side.
--- Some choice ALF quotes ---
ALF: On Melmac, we have 1st class, 2nd class, -- and ham.
ALF: I wasn't known on Melmac as the whiz kid for my scholastic ability.
ALF: Putting humans in charge of the earth, is the cosmic equivalence of letting Eddie Murphy direct.
ALF: Raining cats? You open the skylight and I'll get the relish.
Time to start a Facebook write-in campaign to NASA to name Gliese 531g -- "PLANET MELMAC"
--
BTW: In case anyone cares, MEN IN BLACK 3 is filming around NYC this week, and is hiring "space alien" extras - the more unusual - the better.
DarkStarZumaBeachSurfinApocalypseWow
So, they only think it is tidally locked? Some follow-up questions.
Earth is not tidally locked. Why? I have heard that they think this is because of a massive collision which created the moon and spun up the planet at the same time. Could this not have happened to this other planet?
If this did NOT happen to this other planet, would that planet have a magnetic field? If it does not have a magnetic field, would it not have lost most of its water to space due to solar wind, as has happened to Venus?
And if it has no water, this planet may be "habitable" in temperature only, with virtually no water present?
Best,
-PM
Well, in 1.5 million years, Gliese 710 will be in the Solar System's neighborhood - with perhaps enough gravitic influence to disturb the local Oort cloud.
Yup - it may be raining comets in the local neighborhood for a few million years after that close encounter.
So, to get a jump on the Backup Earth plans, if we were interested in camping out on Gliese 531g, 20 light years means a Space Ark would have to begin traveling 78 million miles a year today in order to get to Gliese 531g before Gliese 710 closes in for the kill in 1.5 million years.
Time is awasting - Earthlings!
DarkStarZumaBeachSurfinApocalypseWow
That's Gliese 581g - Pardon my presbyopia.
DarkStarZumaBeachSurfinApocalypseWow
20 light years may seem like a tiny distance in the grand scale of things but it would take Voyager 1 travelling at 40,000 mph some 33,500 years to reach this new Earth-like planet.
then why is it all the same here?
I am a sci-fi fan, my basis is what I pull out of context from reading many many novels.
it may be that I don't know enough 'real science' vs. 'made up for fiction science'
from what I've read, I'm given to understand that
life could be based on many different chemical dependencies
1-DNA does not have to be ACGT based, but all of it on this planet is
2-chiral chemistry says sugars can come in 'left handed' or 'right handed' methods
only we need the same 'handing' of sugars to benefit from them, 'left handed (sorry southpaws) sugars are useless for consumption- but would be ok for a 'left handed' life form
3-life in theory could arise from a 'reducing' chemistry vs. 'oxidizing' (our form)
4-and we all know from star trek, life does not have to be 'carbon' based, but could be based on other elements.. (thank you mr. spock)
so, looking at the first half of the drake equation-quoting wikipedia
"where:
N = the number of civilizations in our galaxy with which communication might be possible;
and
R* = the average rate of star formation per year in our galaxy
fp = the fraction of those stars that have planets
ne = the average number of planets that can potentially support life per star that has planets
f = the fraction of the above that actually go on to develop life at some point"
why is there only ONE FORM, ONE DNA, ONE SUGAR, ONE CARBON BASIS for all life here?
if it's 'quite probable' for multiple planets, why then is it not 'multiply occasions probable' for a single planet, and various life type examples available for detection here?
Not disagreeing with you, I'm just questioning the whyfores... (if anyone knows)
every day http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:Random
The period of time a planet can sustain tectonic activity is largely a function of size, crust thickness, water content, and a few other things. A planet several times the size of Earth is likely to be able to sustain tectonics for many billions of years, and be much more tolerant to differences in composition than an Earth-sized world.
* actually, tide-locking increases internal heating if the planet isn't in a perfectly circular orbit, so it would make tectonics more and not less likely
"Personally, given the ubiquity and propensity of life to flourish wherever it can, I would say that the chances for life on this planet are 100 percent. I have almost no doubt about it,"
"I agree the guy is a bad scientist for making such a claim,"
Note the use of the words "personally" and "I would say". He is not making a scientific claim: he's giving his personal opinion, which scientists are always welcome to do, and which the reporter probably encouraged. So long as he indicates it's an opinion, which he did, he doesn't have to have unshakable scientific fact to support it any more than I need gas chromatograph data to claim "Personally, I would say that pad thai is the best food on the planet."