Posted on 04/20/2020 7:25:20 AM PDT by Tenacious 1
Scientists analyzing data gathered by Kepler, which NASA retired in November 2018, just found a hidden gem: an Earth-size world that may be capable of supporting life as we know it.
The exoplanet, Kepler-1649c, circles a red dwarf star that lies 300 light-years from Earth, a new study reports. Kepler-1649c completes one orbit every 19.5 Earth days, putting the alien planet in its host star's "habitable zone," the just-right range of distances where liquid water could exist on a world's surface. (Because red dwarfs are so dim, their habitable zones lie quite close.)
"This intriguing, distant world gives us even greater hope that a second Earth lies among the stars, waiting to be found," Thomas Zurbuchen, associate administrator of NASA's Science Mission Directorate, said in a statement....
Both of these campaigns were very successful. Kepler spotted about two-thirds of the 4,100 confirmed exoplanets that astronomers have discovered to date. And the spacecraft's observations suggest that 20-25% of the 200 billion or so stars in the Milky Way galaxy host rocky worlds in the habitable zone. That's a lot of potentially life-supporting real estate....
Kepler-1649c is just 1.06 times the size of Earth and gets 75% of the stellar energy influx that our planet gets from the sun. This combination of characteristics makes the newfound world quite special indeed.
"There are other exoplanets estimated to be closer to Earth in size, such as TRAPPIST-1f and, by some calculations, Teegarden c," NASA officials wrote in the same statement. "Others may be closer to Earth in temperature, such as TRAPPIST-1d and TOI 700d. But there is no other exoplanet that is considered to be closer to Earth in both of these values that also lies in the habitable zone of its system."
(Excerpt) Read more at space.com ...
For most, the vastness and distances to these exoplanets are unfathomable. 3 hundred light years? That's not bad, right? That's only 4 generations of humans and if we can master stasis.... THAT'S AT LIGHT SPEED! Not gonna happen.
I had an interesting dialogue with a friend about this recently. It is estimated, that our closest neighboring "star system", Alpha Centauri, is about 4 light years away. If we developed technology that increased our speed in space by 10X (average over distance), we might be able to get to Alpha Centauri in about 13,500 years. Even if we found a way to make equipment and fuel last that long and successfully mastered effective stasis, we would likely miss the star system all together. It will have moved by the time we get there. The calculations for a perfect shot also become unfathomable simply because nothing in the universe is still. There is no benchmark, and the lag in time makes the relative position of every object in space an estimate.
Ok, so what of communication. Radio waves are ineffective at the vast distances we are seeking. The wavelengths grow over distances and a signal received would be so distorted it would likely be indistinguishable from the natural static found in the universe. So we use high intensity light and lasers? We still have the same problem to a lesser degree but now we have to hit a moving target in a focused attempt.
Let's say we wanted to send a message to Kepler-1649c (only 300 light years away). And let's say in another 100 years we can produce a laser with an encoded message that had the strength to be received 300 light years from when it was sent. Two problems still exist.
1) We have to lead the star system by 300 years (think in 3 dimensions, 4 if you include time). We'll never know if the shot was accurate.
2) If we are able to hit the star system, the planet is only a small, moving part of the star system and would only collect a tiny fraction of the transmitted light. Any refraction or diffraction of the laser signal could be distorted and again, any perceivable light received would likely be lost in the incoming static of space.
Assuming intelligent life on the planet did recognize our signal as intelligent life. That would likely indicate they were more advanced than us. That's a good thing, right? (Debate Philosophy here, lol)
Next, to verify our success, they would have to find where the signal came from, 300 earth years prior. Then they would have to use whatever technology they have to return a signal. 600 years or so after we sent our greeting, we would have to recognize their response. Then we could plan our visit? At an inconceivable speed (for which technology does not exist) we might be able to make the trip in a short 50,000 to 100,000 years. And at that speed, a vessel could expect to disintegrate should it encounter a random small pocket of gas in transit. We are already well into the realm of what we consider science fiction by today's standards.
Will humans ever migrate into space and inhabit exoplanets in the universe? I guess maybe in the next million years or so. Will we ever meet intelligent alien life? Not likely. Does intelligent extraterrestrial exist in the universe? Most likely. In fact, there well may have already been intelligent life out there that has come and become extinct. There may also be "intelligent life" that is just now evolving. But our star, the Sun, also has an expiration date. So even our opportunity in space and time is limited. It's good to look and is our human nature. But ultimately, is our expectation and hopes a bit ambitious?
So when are the Hollyweirdos going back home?
Isn’t “Alien Planet” redundant unless somebody knows that actual Aliens live there?
Is it locked down yet?
So first we have to be able to travel at the speed of light, and then it would only take 300 years to get there.
LOL. If we sent them off the planet today, they should arrive in about 4 million years. They should get comfortable for the ride.
You can bet the farm on this. This is not an Earth-like planet. Red dwarfs are flare stars. If there was life on that planet, most likely it would have gotten wiped out several times by now. Also, that planet is so close to the star that they will be incredible tidal forces. So much for an ocean.
I wonder what the energetic particle flux is like coming out of a red dwarf?
Gives me something to research while I am stuck a home.
Just not gonna happen unless we develop some sort of warp speed. It does exist as a theory, does it not?
In other words, if President Thomas Jefferson had invented a light-speed capable spaceship and launched it at the same time Lewis and Clark embarked on their voyage of discovery, the space ship would now be a little over 2/3 of the way to their destination.
The article addresses that and agrees with you. My whole point in posting this, was along the lines of, "while interesting, it is irrelevant for us as it pertains to the next 10 generations or so of humans."
Exactly. The science is interesting and tickles the natural human curiosity. But it is irrelevant for us today. I suppose it's good practice for our descendants that might be able to do something with it, in say another 1000 years.
I think "theory" is a bit strong. The idea of Warping Space and time requires some dramatic advances and changes in the laws of physics.
Zack lee. Where do we enter their names for the drawing? I keep saying that as soon as they find the location better than the US to drop us a post card. The mail carrier says nothing in the mail yet.
Don't forget time dilation. If the astronauts travel fast enough, they can traverse that distance in what appears to them to be an instant, but would still appear to be hundreds of years on earth.
If you could accelerate at a constant one-g, you could reach 99.9% of the speed of light in about a year. Time dilation would mean that compared to clocks on earth, time would pass much more slowly for our astronauts. The entire 600 year round trip would occur in "only" 27 years of their lives. They would come back to an earth that was much, much different than the one they left.
It's more intense than our yellow dwarf, by a lot. It is mentioned in the article that the solar flares of the red dwarf would likely destroy an atmosphere on the subject exoplanet, especially at it's short distance from the red dwarf.
Kepler-1649c? As long as it isn’t LV-426.
“The exoplanet, Kepler-1649c, circles a red dwarf star that lies 300 light-years from Earth,”
Pay tell, 300 lite yrs away...WHAT difference does this “find” make to us ??....IOW...WHO CARES !!!
It all makes sense but I sure would like confirmation of extra terrestrial life out there before I die......
You make the mistake of assuming we know everything there is to know about physics.
FTL travel is theoretically and mathematically possible- we just have not yet figured out how to do it.
Listen to Bob Lazar. He describes the alien spacecraft gravity propulsion systems in quite a lot of detail.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.