Scientists find "possibly habitable" distant planet

[Bootprint]

Originally posted by: Oscar1613
according to this site, the fastest exit velocity (of the solar system) is Voyager 1 at 38,600 mph, which means it would take 152,292,746 years to go 1 light year or 3,045,854,922 years to travel the 20 light years to this planet

Oh man, we better back a lunch and make sure everyone goes to the bathroom before we head out for that planet.

 

[jmcoreymv]

Well if we can ever get decently close to traveling at the speed of light, it should be a lot quicker to get there.

 

[Terabyte]

You found my hideout. Now to self-detonate and go to my primary backup hideout

 

[NanoStuff]

Originally posted by: Farang
We would need some sort of ship that could create its own energy and a crew that is dedicated enough to give their lives for the mission, along with advancements in reaching speeds fast enough to get people there in a reasonable amount of time (<50 years or so).

Sorry to disappoint you, but if anything from earth will be going to that planet, it won't be humans. At least not humans in any recognizable form today.

 

[Flyback]

Originally posted by: jmcoreymv
Well if we can ever get decently close to traveling at the speed of light, it should be a lot quicker to get there.

Nevermind that pesky relativistic change for when you come back to the 'hood afterwards.

 

[novasatori]

what is the gravitational force on the planet?

I tried to figure it but I suck too much at physics and really don't know if there is enough info
I started with earth's base mass and radius and then tried to run it through equations and 1.5 the radius (says it's 50% wider) and 5x the mass (says it has 5x the mass) but came up with some way too big number - think I didn't convert units correctly

 

[Dark4ng3l]

Even if we could send a probe it would have to be 100% self guiding and autonomous in every way plus any message sent back to us would take 20.5 years to get here. Considering that, at beast the craft could maybe take a few pictures and send a probe that could detect what kind of atmosphere is on the planet(maybe even some data on the solar system itself like how many planets detected and what type and maybe some pictures). Basically we need a huge jump in tech for a little data(not to mention if we assume 40 years to get there and 20.5 years for the data to be sent back it would be 60+ year wait before you get anything).

 

[NikolaeVarius]

This is why we need Warp Drives.

 

[sao123]

Originally posted by: 2Xtreme21
http://www.world-science.net/othernews/070425-habitable-planet.htm

I'd say take the page for what it's worth, but if this is indeed true, what do you think the chances of actually spending time and energy researching it further are?

Edit: CNN Link

Thats awesome...but i doubt well ever make it there.

 

[Special K]

Good news everyone:thumbsup:

 

[dennilfloss]

http://www.space.com/scienceastronomy/070424_exoplanet_side.html

This technique might come in handy.

http://www.space.com/businesstechnology/070418_tech_wednesday.html

Of course, this new planet could be another Venus rather than Terra.

 

[pontifex]

Originally posted by: batchusa
Why do some believe that Earth's conditions are the only ones suitable for life?

because most people are close minded tools or religious

 

[2Xtreme21]

Originally posted by: novasatori
what is the gravitational force on the planet?

I tried to figure it but I suck too much at physics and really don't know if there is enough info
I started with earth's base mass and radius and then tried to run it through equations and 1.5 the radius (says it's 50% wider) and 5x the mass (says it has 5x the mass) but came up with some way too big number - think I didn't convert units correctly

g = G (m1 / r^2)

m1 = 5 * 5.9736x10^24 = 2.9868x10^25 kg
r^2 = ( (1.5) * 6.37101x10^6) ^2 = 9.1327x10^13 m

g = (6.6742x10^-11) (2.9868x10^25 kg / 9.1327x10^13 m)

= 21.828 m/s^2

Edit: To put that in perspective that is almost 2.25 times the force of gravity on Earth. It's equivalent to the force you feel when you're rounding a bend at the end of a drop on a fast roller coaster.

 

[brandonb]

Originally posted by: pontifex

Originally posted by: batchusa
Why do some believe that Earth's conditions are the only ones suitable for life?

because most people are close minded tools or religious

Actually having an earth like planet in any solar systems is actually fairly slim!

Most star systems are binary stars, which is nearly impossible to have a habitable planet around, as the suns rotate around each other. Obviously that means the distance between the planets and sun is always changing and the temperatures and what not would fluxuate to the point of being inhabitable, not to mention the shifting of gravity due to the alignment of the suns.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Binary_star

Recent research suggests that a large percentage of stars are part of systems with at least two stars.

 

[Flyback]

See, who cares about global warming... we have a potential replacement :beer:

 

[novasatori]

Originally posted by: 2Xtreme21

Originally posted by: novasatori
what is the gravitational force on the planet?

I tried to figure it but I suck too much at physics and really don't know if there is enough info
I started with earth's base mass and radius and then tried to run it through equations and 1.5 the radius (says it's 50% wider) and 5x the mass (says it has 5x the mass) but came up with some way too big number - think I didn't convert units correctly

g = G (m1 / r^2)

m1 = 5 * 5.9736x10^24 = 2.9868x10^25 kg
r^2 = ( (1.5) * 6.37101x10^6) ^2 = 9.1327x10^13 m

g = (6.6742x10^-11) (2.9868x10^25 kg / 9.1327x10^13 m)

= 21.828 m/s^2

Edit: To put that in perspective that is almost 2.25 times the force of gravity on Earth. It's equivalent to the force you feel when you're rounding a bend at the end of a drop on a fast roller coaster.

Cool, so I was on the right track, I guess I just fumbled somewhere. Thanks for the info, its pretty interesting, I wonder how much life would change living in that environment.

 

[Jgtdragon]

Originally posted by: Oscar1613
according to this site, the fastest exit velocity (of the solar system) is Voyager 1 at 38,600 mph, which means it would take 152,292,746 years to go 1 light year or 3,045,854,922 years to travel the 20 light years to this planet

:thumbsup:

 

[Luthien]

Originally posted by: Farang
20.5 light years is relatively close, and reaching it could be possible. We would need some sort of ship that could create its own energy and a crew that is dedicated enough to give their lives for the mission, along with advancements in reaching speeds fast enough to get people there in a reasonable amount of time (<50 years or so).

Now all of those advancements that we need are huge, but definately plausible some time in the future. It is exciting to think that reaching an extra terrestrial planet is within the realm of possibility.

Like we see in scientific flicks those scientists would have to have kids or bring infants to educate for the mission. Then there is the trip back if there is to be one. Indigenous life forms might eat them.

 

[Luthien]

Originally posted by: novasatori

Originally posted by: 2Xtreme21

Originally posted by: novasatori
what is the gravitational force on the planet?

I tried to figure it but I suck too much at physics and really don't know if there is enough info
I started with earth's base mass and radius and then tried to run it through equations and 1.5 the radius (says it's 50% wider) and 5x the mass (says it has 5x the mass) but came up with some way too big number - think I didn't convert units correctly

g = G (m1 / r^2)

m1 = 5 * 5.9736x10^24 = 2.9868x10^25 kg
r^2 = ( (1.5) * 6.37101x10^6) ^2 = 9.1327x10^13 m

g = (6.6742x10^-11) (2.9868x10^25 kg / 9.1327x10^13 m)

= 21.828 m/s^2

Edit: To put that in perspective that is almost 2.25 times the force of gravity on Earth. It's equivalent to the force you feel when you're rounding a bend at the end of a drop on a fast roller coaster.

Cool, so I was on the right track, I guess I just fumbled somewhere. Thanks for the info, its pretty interesting, I wonder how much life would change living in that environment.

Likely it would be smaller. Pigmy sized everything with the largest animals life being in the oceans. Insects and smaller animals would not be nearly as oppressed by higher gravity as large ones. Plants would be smaller too.

 

[ranmaniac]

Now all we need is to build a spacecraft that can go to ludicrous speed and can transform into a maid to suck out all the air.

 

[paulxcook]

There's no guarantee this planet even exists anymore.

 

[meltdown75]

Cool link and great reading, thanks :thumbsup:

 

[LordMorpheus]

Originally posted by: KarmaPolice
20.5 light years away and thats just not possible to get to at the moment. In order to get there we will need some serious research in physics and figure out how to either push something to the speed of light or even sling it around a planet or something. I think half the speed of light is what some physics people think is attainable and that would take 40 years to get there and 40 years back....

40 years there and back to those of us on earth watching them go.

It'd be about 35 years there and back for the crew. Not a huge difference, but still, 5 years is a fairly long time. They'd probably spend it asleep in some sort of cryo-stasis. If we build a rocket to travel 20 light years we could figure something like that out.

Originally posted by: Farang
20.5 light years is relatively close, and reaching it could be possible. We would need some sort of ship that could create its own energy and a crew that is dedicated enough to give their lives for the mission, along with advancements in reaching speeds fast enough to get people there in a reasonable amount of time (<50 years or so).

Now all of those advancements that we need are huge, but definately plausible some time in the future. It is exciting to think that reaching an extra terrestrial planet is within the realm of possibility.

I deem that unlikely.

 

[Leros]

Is this one of those things where after 5 years of watching a pixel wiggle around a picture of the night sky, we've concluded that that pixel is a planet and concluded that it is earthlike?

 

[AbAbber2k]

Originally posted by: Leros
Is this one of those things where after 5 years of watching a pixel wiggle around a picture of the night sky, we've concluded that that pixel is a planet and concluded that it is earthlike?

:roll: