"Habitable" planet discovered

Started by tmw89, December 26, 2012, 10:27:41 PM

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tmw89

'Habitable' planet discovered circling Tau Ceti star
Press Association
guardian.co.uk, Wednesday 19 December 2012 04.08 EST
Linked article:  http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/2012/dec/19/habitable-planet-discovered-tau-ceti


A planet with conditions that could support life orbits a twin neighbour of the sun visible to the naked eye, scientists have revealed.

The world is one of five thought to be circling Tau Ceti, a star just 12 light years away that is almost identical to the sun.

Astronomers estimate the Tau Ceti planets to be two to six times bigger than Earth. One of them, with five times the Earth's mass, lies in the star's "habitable zone".

Also known as the "Goldilocks zone", this is the orbital region that is neither too hot nor too cold to allow liquid surface water and, potentially, life. Details of the discovery are to appear in the journal Astronomy & Astrophysics.

Because of the difficulties involved in detecting extra-solar planets, most found so far have had high masses. The Tau Ceti planetary family is thought to be the lowest-mass solar system yet detected.

Scientists found the planets using a highly sensitive technique that combined data from more than 6,000 observations from three different telescopes. They used the radial velocity method, which looks for "wobble" in a star's movement caused by the gravitational tug of planets.

Dr James Jenkins, a member of the international team from the University of Hertfordshire, said: "Tau Ceti is one of our nearest cosmic neighbours and so bright that we may be able to study the atmospheres of these planets in the not-too-distant future.

"Planetary systems found around nearby stars close to our sun indicate that these systems are common in our Milky Way galaxy."

More than 800 planets have been discovered orbiting stars beyond the sun since the 1990s. Those found around the nearest sun-like stars are the most interesting to astronomers.

Professor Steve Vogt, another team member, from the University of California at Santa Cruz, said: "This discovery is in keeping with our emerging view that virtually every star has planets, and that the galaxy must have many such potentially habitable Earth-sized planets. They are everywhere, even right next door."

Professor Chris Tinney, an Australian member from the University of New South Wales, said: "As we stare at the night sky, it is worth contemplating that there may well be more planets out there than there are stars, some fraction of which may well be habitable."

Jenkins is a visiting fellow at the University of Hertfordshire who is based at the University of Chile.
Quote from: Bishop WilliamsonThe "promise to respect" as Church law the New Code of Canon Law is to respect a number of supposed laws directly contrary to Church doctrine.

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Greg

Five times the mass is five times the gravity.  Gonna be hard to stand up and walk around.
Contentment is knowing that you're right. Happiness is knowing that someone else is wrong.

Bonaventure

Quote from: Greg on December 28, 2012, 08:09:36 AM
Five times the mass is five times the gravity.  Gonna be hard to stand up and walk around.

Five times the weight, no?
"If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me."

poche

Quote from: Bonaventure on December 28, 2012, 01:18:17 PM
Quote from: Greg on December 28, 2012, 08:09:36 AM
Five times the mass is five times the gravity.  Gonna be hard to stand up and walk around.

Five times the weight, no?
It sounds like someone would have to go on a diet.
:) :) :)

Bonaventure

My petite, 80 lb. aunt would way 400 lbs.
"If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me."

tmw89

Quote from: Bonaventure on December 28, 2012, 11:23:57 PM
My petite, 80 lb. aunt would way 400 lbs.

If your aunt would weight 400 lbs there, that means... I am not going to this planet.
Quote from: Bishop WilliamsonThe "promise to respect" as Church law the New Code of Canon Law is to respect a number of supposed laws directly contrary to Church doctrine.

---

http://tradblogs.blogspot.com

NOW OPEN:  A new Trad forum featuring Catholic books, information, and discussion!

Vetus Ordo

Only the planet earth possesses life. Scripture proves it.

Anything else is just satanic fables.
DISPOSE OUR DAYS IN THY PEACE, AND COMMAND US TO BE DELIVERED FROM ETERNAL DAMNATION, AND TO BE NUMBERED IN THE FLOCK OF THINE ELECT.

Bonaventure

"If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me."

Greg

#8
Assuming they find a planet with gravitational characteristics suitable for humans, oxygen there then remains the problem of how to get there.

just 12 light years away, needs to be put into context. The fastest thing man can produce today travels at 25,000 miles per hour, or 7 miles per second.  With clever use of the out planets gravity and launching at the right time you can get to 10 miles per second.  The speed of light is 20,000 times faster than Voyager 1 the fastest man made object in the universe.

So assuming there was suddenly a discovery that would allow rocketships to travel 100 times faster to 700 miles per second it would still take 200 times 12 years to make the one way journey.  I.e if you had left at around the time of Alexander the Great you're journey would just be coming to an end.

Then you have to get home with samples or wait 25 years for results and advice from experts on earth.  If you needed clarification, it would be their children you would reply to your reply.

If God wanted men to visit the stars then he would have given them...well something they don't have currently.
Contentment is knowing that you're right. Happiness is knowing that someone else is wrong.

tmw89

Quote from: Greg on December 29, 2012, 02:01:51 AM
Assuming they find a planet with gravitational characteristics suitable for humans, oxygen there then remains the problem of how to get there.

just 12 light years away, needs to be put into context. The fastest thing man can produce today travels at 25,000 miles per hour, or 7 miles per second.  With clever use of the out planets gravity and launching at the right time you can get to 10 miles per second.  The speed of light is 20,000 times faster than Voyager 1 the fastest man made object in the universe.

So assuming there was suddenly a discovery that would allow rocketships to travel 100 times faster to 700 miles per second it would still take 200 times 12 years to make the one way journey.  I.e if you had left at around the time of Alexander the Great you're journey would just be coming to an end.

Then you have to get home with samples or wait 25 years for results and advice from experts on earth.  If you needed clarification, it would be their children you would reply to your reply.

If God wanted men to visit the stars then he would have given them...well something they don't have currently.

Almost makes you wonder if the space programs weren't modern day Towers of Babel, right?
Quote from: Bishop WilliamsonThe "promise to respect" as Church law the New Code of Canon Law is to respect a number of supposed laws directly contrary to Church doctrine.

---

http://tradblogs.blogspot.com

NOW OPEN:  A new Trad forum featuring Catholic books, information, and discussion!

Greg

Not really, exploring is fun but the laws of physics, Newtonian, do seem to make this a difficult challenge.

They'll not do it in mine of my children's lifetime, if indeed they ever do, so what does it matter?

And when and if they ever do find a new planet then what?

Human nature is not going to change.  It will be the same crap with a different address.
Contentment is knowing that you're right. Happiness is knowing that someone else is wrong.

poche

Quote from: Evangelium Gratiæ on December 29, 2012, 01:40:48 AM
Only the planet earth possesses life. Scripture proves it.

Anything else is just satanic fables.
How would you know?

poche

Quote from: Greg on December 29, 2012, 02:41:03 AM
Not really, exploring is fun but the laws of physics, Newtonian, do seem to make this a difficult challenge.

They'll not do it in mine of my children's lifetime, if indeed they ever do, so what does it matter?

And when and if they ever do find a new planet then what?

Human nature is not going to change.  It will be the same crap with a different address.
It would be interesting to see what is up there.

Kaesekopf

Quote from: tmw89 on December 29, 2012, 02:07:12 AM
Almost makes you wonder if the space programs weren't modern day Towers of Babel, right?

Whoa there, chief.
Wie dein Sonntag, so dein Sterbetag.

I am not altogether on anybody's side, because nobody is altogether on my side.  ~Treebeard, LOTR

Jesus son of David, have mercy on me.

Vetus Ordo

Quote from: poche on December 29, 2012, 02:44:50 AM
Quote from: Evangelium Gratiæ on December 29, 2012, 01:40:48 AM
Only the planet earth possesses life. Scripture proves it.

Anything else is just satanic fables.
How would you know?

I wouldn't, I'm just a man.

But God, who does not deceive nor can be deceived, knows and has revealed it to us in the Scriptures. I trust in that infallible testimony.
DISPOSE OUR DAYS IN THY PEACE, AND COMMAND US TO BE DELIVERED FROM ETERNAL DAMNATION, AND TO BE NUMBERED IN THE FLOCK OF THINE ELECT.