|
Post by swamprat on Oct 16, 2012 20:16:27 GMT -6
Earth-Size Alien Planet at Alpha Centauri Is Closest Ever Seenby Mike Wall, SPACE.com Senior Writer Date: 16 October 2012 The star system closest to our own sun hosts a planet with roughly Earth's mass and may harbor other alien worlds as well, a new study reports. Astronomers detected the alien planet around the sunlike star Alpha Centauri B, which is part of a three-star system just 4.3 light-years away from us. The newfound world is about as massive as Earth, but it's no Earth twin; its heat-blasted surface may be covered with molten rock, researchers said. The mere existence of the planet, known as Alpha Centauri Bb, suggests that undiscovered worlds may lurk farther away from its star — perhaps in the habitable zone, that just-right range of distances where liquid water can exist. "Most of the low-mass planets are in systems of two, three to six or seven planets, out to the habitable zone," study co-author Stephane Udry, of the Geneva Observatory, told reporters today (Oct. 16). So the discovery "opens really good prospects for detecting planets in the habitable zone in a system that is very close to us," Udry added. "In that sense, this system is a landmark. www.space.com/18089-earth-size-alien-planet-alpha-centauri.htmlLooks like Australia is about the only good location to see it!
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Oct 16, 2012 22:16:34 GMT -6
I've always wanted to see it too, bummer. That, and the large Magellanic Cloud (LMC). The cutoff point for North America is right around Orlando and Houston. Even then it is very low on the southern horizon and usually is best seen around early May at only certain times of the night. If the bright star Arcturus in Bootes is high overhead and you are somewhere near or especially south of the -29* line, you have a chance of seeing it. I know it doesn't seem that way on the chart but atmospheric refraction will actually allow it to be visible during this time very low on the horizon if conditions are favorable. This is a significant discovery within the astronomical community.
|
|
|
Post by auntym on Oct 17, 2012 11:20:46 GMT -6
neiltyson If we sent our fastest-ever space probe to Alpha Centauri, the Sun's nearest star system, the journey would take 75,000 years
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Oct 17, 2012 12:49:50 GMT -6
bummer...I don't have quite that long
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Oct 17, 2012 16:54:22 GMT -6
neiltyson If we sent our fastest-ever space probe to Alpha Centauri, the Sun's nearest star system, the journey would take 75,000 years And this is our nearest star to the sun (Actually Proxima Centauri is which is Alpha Centauri C to be technical ). This is what amazes me and makes me wonder who 'they' are and where they came from when thinking about vast distances. For me and many here, it isn't a question of "if" but a matter of fact of knowing that these beings have advanced technology capable of intergalactic space travel that our minds cannot understand or fathom. I'm glad, for my own sanity, that there was another witness the night we saw the object which I title "The Perseid ufo". I have seen therefore I know,,, yet I still do not understand.
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Oct 17, 2012 18:56:49 GMT -6
I have seen therefore I know,,, yet I still do not understand. I'm in that boat with ya there Cliff...
|
|
|
Post by lois on Oct 17, 2012 19:08:20 GMT -6
neiltyson If we sent our fastest-ever space probe to Alpha Centauri, the Sun's nearest star system, the journey would take 75,000 years How far is that at ufo speeds. I wonder about that a lot. How long is it taking them to buzz out of our solar system and milky way. It would stagger the human mind.
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Oct 17, 2012 20:18:06 GMT -6
neiltyson If we sent our fastest-ever space probe to Alpha Centauri, the Sun's nearest star system, the journey would take 75,000 years How far is that at ufo speeds. I wonder about that a lot. How long is it taking them to buzz out of our solar system and milky way. It would stagger the human mind. According to Albert Einstein it is impossible for any matter to travel at the speed of light. Only a photon itself can manage this. The distance that light travels is right about 186, 272 miles per second. This equals about 6 trillion miles in one year. If we were (or they were) to travel at this speed, it would take them about 4.3 years to reach us just from this closest star system. This is 24 trillion miles , and it's the closest. Theoretically, this velocity cannot be achieved, hence, only light itself can do this. Scientists are saying now that there may be a new way to accomplish "warp" speed, whatever and however that may be. It may be possible,,,dunno.
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Oct 18, 2012 0:19:46 GMT -6
Well...we have no idea how fast any given UFO does travel..they could be inter-dimensional and not need to travel across vast distances. We just don't know. As our understood laws of physics stand..space itself can move faster than the speed of light but nothing can move through space faster than the speed of light. The furthest objects of our observable universe are moving away from us faster than the speed of light but they're moving relative to US not to space itself. The faster an object goes..the heavier it becomes making it harder to accelerate it. Voyeger space craft goes ten miles a second..that doesn't mean the human body could handle the stress of that. These are physical laws as we know them now..there may be ways to bend or fold space or other little tricks we don't know yet. We can guess that maybe aliens would employ some type of magnetic's or maybe some sort of particle physics accelerator...guess we just won't know until they come clean ;D
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Oct 18, 2012 0:57:32 GMT -6
As our understood laws of physics stand..space itself can move faster than the speed of light but nothing can move through space faster than the speed of light. The furthest objects of our observable universe are moving away from us faster than the speed of light but they're moving relative to US not to space itself. Yep,,,Hubble's Law.
|
|
|
Post by auntym on Oct 18, 2012 10:00:58 GMT -6
www.dailygalaxy.com/my_weblog/2012/10/my-entry.html ESO. A journey to Alpha Centauri. HD
Published on Oct 16, 2012 by Catherine Laplace-Builhe This video shows an imaginary journey from Earth to the Alpha Centauri system. As we leave the Solar System we see the familiar constellation figures including the Southern Cross (Crux) and the bright stars Alpha and Beta Centauri. As we approach Alpha Centauri we pass a faint red star, this is Proxima Centauri, the closest star to Earth and the faintest component of a triple star system. The final part shows the bright double star Alpha Centauri A and B with the Sun visible in the background. Alpha Centauri B is known to be orbited by an Earth-mass planet, the closest exoplanet to the Solar System. Credit: ESO./L. Calçada/Nick Risinger (skysurvey.org). Source www.eso.org/public/news/eso1241/www.dailygalaxy.com/my_weblog/2012/10/my-entry.html
|
|