JPHiP Forum
General => General Discussion => Topic started by: Tyball on April 24, 2007, 07:16:13 PM
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In a finding that if confirmed could stand as a landmark in history, astronomers have reported discovering the most Earth-like planet outside our Solar System to date: a world that may have liquid oceans and thus life. (http://www.world-science.net/othernews/070425-habitable-planet.htm)
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That means.. that.. we could possibly have found another planet? Go Astronomy <_<.
What a weird name for that certain star/exoplanet.
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Damn, a 13 day long year. That makes it the opposite of Helliconia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Helliconia)then...
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It's bigger than Earth but only have 13 days a year! imagine if we live there... we'll only have 3 days for summer vacation ^_^
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It's bigger than Earth but only have 13 days a year! imagine if we live there... we'll only have 3 days for summer vacation ^_^
Damn! ... Well at least you could expect to become more than 2100 years old. :lol:
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WOW that's cool. thanks for the post. I always thought that there's gotta be at least one more planet like ours out there.
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That means.. that.. we could possibly have found another planet? Go Astronomy <_<.
What a weird name for that certain star/exoplanet.
Um...Discovery of planets isn't as uncommon as it used to be. But don't astronomers make these kind of speculations every freaking time?
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i wish we'd miraculously find a way to get to these planets at least to take a pic or something.. too bad they 're soooo far away.. :-[
Um...Discovery of planets isn't as uncommon as it used to be. But don't astronomers make these kind of speculations every freaking time?
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Um...Discovery of planets isn't as uncommon as it used to be. But don't astronomers make these kind of speculations every freaking time?
You've got a point. Astronomers and the like are always on the look out for anything that, even remotely, could mean life outside of Earth. I remember the excitement several years ago when they thought the Martian meteorite they had contained fossilized microbes and they weren't even sure what they had found yet.
But what makes this particular planet so interesting is that not only is it roughly "Earth-like," the first extra-solar planet to be deemed so, and within the habitiable zone of the star it orbits, it also has a large Neptune-sized planet as a neighbor. Large planets are thought to be something like bodyguards to a solar system since they tend to have powerful gravity wells that catch comets, asteroids, and other interstellar objects that could collide with planets. While Earth does get hit every now and again, it's thought that Jupiter has prevented some major impacts in the past because of its size and gravity and, thus, has prevented life on Earth from enduring waves of extinctions resulting from interstellar matter colliding with us. Though that doesn't mean it will never or hasn't already happen.
So, yeah, the excitement and expectations of finding life on another planet tend to get more attention than the actual facts and probabilities of a new find, but there is some basis for thinking this new planet could be a home for life.
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True but I meant that it's really hard to find a planet that's habitable to live on. Mars wasn't one of those 'planets' and was never suitable because of how it is inside.
This exoplanet has just been discovered, and yet, they're not as sure if it's suitable.
Oh well, I think I sound dumb. Just giving my idea.
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Isn't it trillions of light years away? :D
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Lol I heard about it on the Colbert Report...
Thinking realistically though, we don't have the resources/technology to even attempt light travel (if it's even possible), much less venture throughout our own solar system. Yeah...
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First step focusing our radio telescopes to Gliese 581 and seeing if anyone on the planet is broadcasting anything. Not hearing anything doesn't neccesarily mean there's no intelligent life though. They might be using communications protocols that we can't seperate from random noise.
Next, we'd probably try beaming signals to them. Start with regular patterns, then basic math, then some greetings. Repeat in as many wavelengths as possible. Wait for response. But again, not hearing anything doesn't neccesarily mean there's no intelligent life.
Eventually, we'd probably try an unmanned probe. This is a major challenge though. We'd have to fling something that can either travel at a significant fraction of light speed (like nothing we've ever built) or send a slow tugboat (powered either by an ion engine or a solar sail). The spacecraft would have to pilot itself for decades, maybe even hundreds of years. It'll have to find some way to brake once it gets to the Gliese 581 system. It'll then need to observe the planet (relatively speaking, the easiest part of the mission). Then it needs to beam all that information back to Earth (it'll need tons of power to do that).
Difficult? Hell Yeah. Impossible? No. I can imagine all the aero/astro people at MIT and CalTech putting down whatever they're doing and focusing on the challenges already...
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Now we have a place where to send the last survivors of humankind when we're finally screwed!