This is a fascinating discovery:
By galactic terms, the planet of Proxima b is just next door to we here in the Solar System, given that it orbits Proxima Centauri, which is one of the closest stars to the Sun. Until now, the extrasolar planets that have been discovered were tens if not hundreds or thousands of lightyears away. While using current technology it would still take thousands of years to arrive there, Proxima b is slightly over 4 lightyears from Earth.
Showing posts with label Planets. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Planets. Show all posts
Sunday, 28 August 2016
Wednesday, 30 October 2013
Kepler-78b
I find the discovery of this "lava world" fascinating:
Kepler-78b is an Earth-sized planet orbiting the star Kepler-78, located 400 light-years away. Its distance from its sun is a hundredth of Earth's distance from the Sun, with temperatures reaching 2800C (5072F) . Astronomers have theorised that the planet is tidally locked, with the side facing the star being moltee, giving it "lava world" status. Kepler-78b can be considered a lifeless planet, as the day side is obviously too hot to support life and the night side's temperatures are unknown but are unlikely to be any more hospitable.
Regardless of Kepler-78b's ability to support life, the discovery of planets outside the Solar System has always fascinated me. Countless Earth-sized worlds have been discovered but no Earth-like plants have been found yet. It's just a matter of time before we find a world similar to our own out there.
Kepler-78b is an Earth-sized planet orbiting the star Kepler-78, located 400 light-years away. Its distance from its sun is a hundredth of Earth's distance from the Sun, with temperatures reaching 2800C (5072F) . Astronomers have theorised that the planet is tidally locked, with the side facing the star being moltee, giving it "lava world" status. Kepler-78b can be considered a lifeless planet, as the day side is obviously too hot to support life and the night side's temperatures are unknown but are unlikely to be any more hospitable.
Regardless of Kepler-78b's ability to support life, the discovery of planets outside the Solar System has always fascinated me. Countless Earth-sized worlds have been discovered but no Earth-like plants have been found yet. It's just a matter of time before we find a world similar to our own out there.
Friday, 12 October 2012
Diamond planet
Aren't the wonders of the universe amazing? I love it when they discover something new in space; how would you like a planet-sized diamond?
http://uk.news.yahoo.com/huge-alien-planet-is--made-of-diamonds---say-scientists.html
What's the catch? Well, 55 Cancri e is 40 lightyears away, so it would take an incredibly long time to get there at the current fastest human-achieved speeds; and if you even made it there to begin with, the surface temperature is around 3,900 degrees Fahrenheit...not exactly an attractive place to want to visit!
While diamonds are valuable only because we consider them to be, the existence of a diamond-world is fascinating! I hope that by the time humanity finds it technologically possible to visit the world we will have placed less emphasis on resource-stripping and will appreciate the planet for what it is.
http://uk.news.yahoo.com/huge-alien-planet-is--made-of-diamonds---say-scientists.html
What's the catch? Well, 55 Cancri e is 40 lightyears away, so it would take an incredibly long time to get there at the current fastest human-achieved speeds; and if you even made it there to begin with, the surface temperature is around 3,900 degrees Fahrenheit...not exactly an attractive place to want to visit!
While diamonds are valuable only because we consider them to be, the existence of a diamond-world is fascinating! I hope that by the time humanity finds it technologically possible to visit the world we will have placed less emphasis on resource-stripping and will appreciate the planet for what it is.
Thursday, 22 December 2011
On Kepler-22b and space travel
Over two weeks ago, it was announced that the first Earth-sized planet located within the habitable zone of a star the same type as the Sun (both are class G stars) had been discovered. Currently, it is still not known if Kepler-22b is rocky, liquid, or gaseous...it could be a place completely hostile to life, but even so, the discovery of a planet both similar in size to Earth and a similar distance from its star as Earth is to the Sun is fascinating and important: I have always been interested in extrasolar planets and space travel.
The only thing that does disappoint me with the discovery of thousands of planets outside the Solar System, especially the ones capable of supporting life (we may not have found them yet, but we will), is that we will not be able to visit them. If it is confirmed that Kepler-22b can support life, being 600 light-years away it would take 600 years to get there just at light-speed (technology that humanity does not possess at present). Even our closest star besides the Sun, Alpha Centauri, would take four years to get to at that speed. The Moon is the only place outside Earth that humans have been to so far, and I am enthralled by that, but saddened that we have not gone to it since the 1970s.
While humans are unlikely to be able to personally travel to extrasolar locations for the foreseeable future, at least we have plenty of places within the Solar System itself to visit long before then. Granted, I doubt I will be able to visit a base on Pluto (although I would be delighted to), but I remain optimistic, even with cuts to space programs, that in my lifetime trips into space (and possibly the Moon) will be commonplace and Mars will have been visited by humans
I strongly think that one day humanity will be able to travel to these distant places and beyond. In the meantime, I also think it is important to care for and protect our current residence in the Universe: the Earth.
The only thing that does disappoint me with the discovery of thousands of planets outside the Solar System, especially the ones capable of supporting life (we may not have found them yet, but we will), is that we will not be able to visit them. If it is confirmed that Kepler-22b can support life, being 600 light-years away it would take 600 years to get there just at light-speed (technology that humanity does not possess at present). Even our closest star besides the Sun, Alpha Centauri, would take four years to get to at that speed. The Moon is the only place outside Earth that humans have been to so far, and I am enthralled by that, but saddened that we have not gone to it since the 1970s.
While humans are unlikely to be able to personally travel to extrasolar locations for the foreseeable future, at least we have plenty of places within the Solar System itself to visit long before then. Granted, I doubt I will be able to visit a base on Pluto (although I would be delighted to), but I remain optimistic, even with cuts to space programs, that in my lifetime trips into space (and possibly the Moon) will be commonplace and Mars will have been visited by humans
I strongly think that one day humanity will be able to travel to these distant places and beyond. In the meantime, I also think it is important to care for and protect our current residence in the Universe: the Earth.
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