Posted on 04/20/2014 3:08:56 AM PDT by SunkenCiv
Explanation: Planet Kepler-186f is the first known Earth-size planet to lie within the habitable zone of a star beyond the Sun. Discovered using data from the prolific planet-hunting Kepler spacecraft, the distant world orbits its parent star, a cool, dim, M dwarf star about half the size and mass of the Sun, some 500 light-years away in the constellation Cygnus. M dwarfs are common, making up about 70 percent of the stars in our Milky Way galaxy. To be within the habitable zone, where surface temperatures allowing liquid water are possible, Kepler-186f orbits close, within 53 million kilometers (about the Mercury-Sun distance) of the M dwarf star, once every 130 days. Four other planets are known in the distant system. All four are only a little larger than Earth and in much closer orbits, also illustrated in the tantalizing artist's vision. While the size and orbit of Kepler-186f are known, its mass and composition are not, and can't be determined by Kepler's transit technique. Still, models suggest that it could be rocky and have an atmosphere, making it potentially the most Earth-like exoplanet discovered so far ...
(Excerpt) Read more at 129.164.179.22 ...
[Illustration Credit: NASA Ames / SETI Institute / JPL-Caltech, Discovery: Elisa V. Quintana, et al.]
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NASA will say anything to get money.
Well I wish someone would tell that to the UFO conspiracy theorists who think NASA is hiding aliens all over the place.
There is no way as yet to determine if an exoplanet has an atmosphere. Let alone if it has water or is capable of supporting life.
Good thing NASA didn’t make that claim then huh.
BTW there are ways to determine if there is an atmosphere but Kepler isn’t it.
Astronomy photo shop of the day.
That would require a spectrographic analysis. I don’t think we have the means yet.
Right now they use combined data from Hubble and Swift telescopes (which neither were designed for) to get an idea of exoplanet atmospheres. Its not very accurate and in the case of HD 189733b they can detect hydrogen because its being blown away into space.
http://www.nasa.gov/topics/universe/features/exoplanet-atmosphere.html
I know the next telescope is specifically designed to image smaller planets and should get better data on atmospheres.
If I lived there, I would be 205 years old.
And no wiser.
I had no idea the Kepler space telescope had that capability.
The magnification, the resolution, true color, amazing.
Of course that’s what the ‘planet’ looked like 500 years ago.
What with Galaxo Warming it might be a cinder today.
So, they come across these ‘exoplanets’ that are in some supposed (what kind of a?) zone that COULD be possible for water and then, of course, life. PLEASE, let me know if anyone has ever demonstrated, conclusively, the spontaneous development of a single amino acid, anywhere.
You see, a lot hangs on this. These ‘scientists’ are desperate to show that we are NOT unique because that helps the anti-theists.
When I was in medical school, our biochem prof said that the chances of life developing in the universe were iffy at best & at that time the estimated age was 17-22 billion years. It is now 13.7 billion + or - .7 billion. That makes the chances far less.
Controlled laboratory experiments have never, to my knowledge, ever been able to induce recombination of all known amino acids into even proteins, let alone RNA & DNA. The operative words here are ‘to my knowledge’.
I would like to know if anyone has contrary evidence.
Amino acids are readily produced in laboratories simulating early conditions on Earth. DNA or RNA, however, no. That requires a lot of evolution. The simple development of photosynthesis was a milestone in evolution. So was sex. However that does not preclude that intelligent life such as our own is not divinely inspired. There is no methodology in the theory of evolution that allows creatures to exceed only what is needed for basic survival.
True. And then use it for Islamic outreach programs. But consider that 2.5 years from now we won't have the zer0-my-peeps-comes-first administration (unless it slips into a dictatorship which is possible). If we have a conservative administration, we may want a strong NASA both for exploration AND the military.
It’s not a photo, according to the explanation.
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