Posted on 09/12/2011 2:40:39 PM PDT by null and void
More than 50 new alien planets — including one so-called super-Earth that could potentially support life — have been discovered by an exoplanet-hunting telescope from the European Southern Observatory (ESO).
The newfound haul of alien planets includes 16 super-Earths, which are potentially rocky worlds that are more massive than our planet.
One in particular - called HD 85512 b - has captured astronomers' attention because it orbits at the edge of its star's habitable zone, suggesting conditions could be ripe to support life.
The potentially habitable super-Earth, officially called HD 85512 b, is estimated to be only 3.6 times more massive than Earth, and its parent star is located about 35 light-years away, making it relatively nearby.
HD 85512 b was found to orbit at the edge of its star's habitable zone, which is a narrow region in which the distance is just right that liquid water could exist given the right conditions.
"This is the lowest-mass confirmed planet discovered by the radial velocity method that potentially lies in the habitable zone of its star, and the second low-mass planet discovered by HARPS inside the habitable zone,”
"I think we're in for an incredibly exciting time," Kaltenegger told reporters in a briefing today "We're not just going out there to discover new continents — we're actually going out there to discover brand new worlds."
In other words, approximately 40 percent of sunlike stars have at least one low-mass planet orbiting around it. On the other hand, the majority of alien planets with a mass similar to Neptune appear to be in systems with multiple planets, researchers said.
(Excerpt) Read more at news.yahoo.com ...
Discovering them is one thing.
Getting there is entirely another..........
/mark
Are we checking their atmospheres out? Like, making sure they are being good to their planets? If not, we may have to consider taking them out!
HD 85512 b was found to orbit at the edge of its star's habitable zone
The potentially habitable super-Earth, officially called HD 85512 b, is estimated to be only 3.6 times more massive than Earth, and its parent star is located about 35 light-years away, making it relatively nearby.
Not super-Earth, FAT pseudo-Earth.
“The potentially habitable super-Earth....”
So a 200-lb person on earth would weigh 720 pounds there, and its parent star is 7 times as far away as the NEXT nearest star to earth.
Barbara Streisand on the “potentially habitable” horseclinton.
Simply by finding their location....you can aim your receiver units at them and wait for “a signal” of any type. You can figure that sooner or later, you just might pick up a sign of some sort.
I won’t sit and ponder on the odds...but you have to sit and wonder what happens when we finally do find one planet with intelligent life. At that point, you can bet odds of hundreds of other planets with such circumstances. So we are merely waiting for the one opportunity to arrive.
The weight is also dependent on radius. If this place has double the radius as earth, his weight is only 180 pounds.
How is all this holding up regarding the "Drake Equation" which esimated the frequency of habitable plants?
‘Super-Earth,’ 1 of 50 Newfound Alien Planets, Could Potentially Support Life
well we won’t be moving there anytime soon
They could come here.
But do they have any Liberals?
“...its parent star is located about 35 light-years away, making it relatively nearby...”
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35 light years away...relatively nearby...har de har har.
How long would it take us to get there (or “them” to get here)?
Apollo 10 set the record for the highest speed attained by a manned vehicle (24,791 mph).
1 Light Year = 5,878,625,373,183.61 miles
35 Light Years = 205,751,888,061,426.25 miles
205,751,888,061,426 miles / 24,791 mph
= 8,299,458,999 hours
= 345,810,791 days
= 947,426 years
It’s “only” a million years away from here?
Who wants to check my math?
The inhabitants are coming to get us because of Gorebull Warming (snicker).
Relative is relative...
That's why we should give Uranus to Obamunists and Islamists. The race to develop the means to dump them there would be the landmark accomplishment of our era.
I don’t think they’re talking about habitable by humans but by native life. Plants, maybe animals of some sort.
I just noticed your post. I wouldn’t have bothered with my #13, if I had seen yours first. With the way FR is acting today (very slow for me), I got distracted for a few minutes, in the middle of posting, and didn’t know that you had alredy posted essentially the same point.
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