Three nearly Earth-size planets found orbiting nearby star

Phys.Org ^ | Jan 16, 2015 | Provided by University of Arizona

[Red Badger]

This whimsical cartoon shows the three newly discovered extrasolar planets (right) casting shadows on their host star that can been seen as eclipses, or transits, at Earth (left). Earth can be detected by the same effect, but only in the plane of Earth's orbit (the ecliptic). During the K2 mission, many of the extrasolar planets discovered by the Kepler telescope will have this lucky double cosmic alignment that would allow for mutual discovery—if there is anyone on those planets to discover Earth. The three new planets orbiting EPIC 201367065 are just out of alignment; while they are visible from Earth, our solar system is tilted just out of their view. Credit: K. Teramura, UH IfA.

[Red Badger]

Space ping!......................

[McGruff]

Wonder if they will will be watching the State of the Union speech tonight. If so, someone needs tell them it’s not a comedy.

[twhitak]

Wonder if they will will be watching the State of the Union speech tonight.

If they are intelligent, then the answer is "no."

[cicero2k]

“We’ve learned in the past year that planets the size and temperature of Earth are common in our Milky Way galaxy,”

And the drumbeat of our demotion continues.

Starting with Galileo during the Renaissance, the discovery of DNA in the 1950s, and now this.

[b4its2late]

Neat stuff

[TexasCajun]

This will only confuse those QVC shopping channel hosts who couldn’t decide if our own moon was a star or planet.

[brownsfan]

These planets are found by inference, not direct observation. With all the global warming hysteria, I’ve lost a lot of confidence in the fidelity of our current scientific community.

[Cry if I Wanna]

The outermost planet orbits in the "Goldilocks" zone, a region where surface temperatures could be moderate enough for liquid water and perhaps life, to exist.

While Earth is certainly in a Goldilocks zone, we have many other things in our favor. For one, the massive planet Jupiter is relatively close, and its gravity keeps most asteroid's from hitting Earth. Earth-like planets in Goldilocks zones may have nice temperatures but the constant asteroid collisions could make life unlikely except for the tiniest of creatures.

[rdl6989]

back to the top

[SunkenCiv]

• Three New Earth-Size Planets Found "Nearby"

Thanks Red Badger.

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[Red Badger]

Even the tiniest of creatures is a miracle of the highest order. Science cannot create even a single celled amoeba with all their knowledge...................

[Sasparilla]

We won’t ever see those in person unless Effram Cochrane steps up soon with a warp drive.

[Bloody Sam Roberts]

"It's life, Jim but not as we know it.
Not as we know it.
Not as we know it."

[Bloody Sam Roberts]

who couldn’t decide if our own moon was a star or planet.

Well, according to uber-fag Isaac Mizrahi, it's a planet because it has 'things' living on it.

[Repeal 16-17]

So should we force Liberals to move to one of those planets or should we move ourselves?

[Red Badger]

Give a hoot! Don’t Pollute!.............

[BigEdLB]

It is 150 light years away, so they can’t see it for 150 years By then we will be traveling through wormholes to get there immediately,m, and be able to warn them of the scarey man coming on the TV.

[TigersEye]

Fire up the rockets! No liberals allowed. Stowaway libs will be jettisoned in deep space.