Earth's cousin?

Discussion in 'Science and Technology' started by Warped9, Apr 18, 2014.

  1. Warped9

    Warped9 Admiral Admiral

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  2. Mr. Laser Beam

    Mr. Laser Beam Fleet Admiral Admiral

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    It's in the Goldilocks zone?

    Does this mean the planet is too cold, too hot, or just right?
     
  3. Warped9

    Warped9 Admiral Admiral

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    "The Goldilock's zone" does refer to an average distance from a star that would allow for habitable conditions, similar to Earth. So, yeah, pretty much just right.
     
  4. gturner

    gturner Admiral

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    I thought it meant the zone where the bears eat you.
     
  5. Gov Kodos

    Gov Kodos Admiral Admiral

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    Worth investigating, to the extant we can, sure. At this point, not much to get excited about, and even should they be able to discern an atmosphere, let alone having oxygen and other gasses which could signal the possibility of life, that does little good here except as a point of philosophy. Folks here on Earth already have a hard time accepting basic tenants of biology, getting them to buy the set of conclusions (however logical and based on facts of how chemistry and biochemistry work) that lead to concluding life could exist on that planet is a tall order to say the least.
     
  6. Trekker4747

    Trekker4747 Boldly going... Premium Member

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    It's on the extreme outer edge of the Goldilocks Zone, i think a bit beyond where Mars is in our system. The average temperatures on the planet would be around some of the colder temperatures on Earth. Within a livable temperature range for life as we know it, but barely.
     
  7. USS Triumphant

    USS Triumphant Vice Admiral Admiral

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    And for some reason, the scientists in the stuff I've read about the planet think that its atmosphere would have been boiled away earlier in the life of the planet and its star. It's still good to see, though, because if we're able to pinpoint planets in the right size range now, I can't help but think it won't be long before we find one that we'll be able to see could support life.
     
  8. Metryq

    Metryq Fleet Captain Fleet Captain

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    I think you mean tenets. If we found evidence of tenants, this planet would be something to get excited about.
     
  9. Gov Kodos

    Gov Kodos Admiral Admiral

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    True, but the current squatters just make wish for better neighbors.
     
  10. Trekker4747

    Trekker4747 Boldly going... Premium Member

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    What I've seen is that they're not sure/have no way of detecting if the planet has, or ever had, an atmosphere. I've just seen a lot of postulating and explaining of all the "could bes" on the planet.
     
  11. urbandefault

    urbandefault Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

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    Great Ceasar's Ghost! They've found Krypton! :lol:
     
  12. Gov Kodos

    Gov Kodos Admiral Admiral

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    The things you can learn from the news:eek::lol:
     
  13. varek

    varek Commander Red Shirt

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    It would be wonderful to investigate it, but that planet is 500 lightyears away from Earth, so it's going to be awhile before we can get close to it.
     
  14. Finn

    Finn Bad Batch of TrekBBS Admiral

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    ^Yes, not until well after Archer's time on the NX-01

    :p
     
  15. publiusr

    publiusr Admiral Admiral

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    The star is a red dwarf, so that means it will live for a very long time. The planet may be far enough out that it isn't tidally locked into captured rotation, I hope.

    I still would like to know more about 47 Ursae Majoris. The star there is a bit brighter than our Sun, and its slightly larger version of Jupiter is about where our asteroid belt would be in relation to that star. That and the gas giant would serve as a reflector.

    Combine a brighter star with a closer gas giant--and that means any Europa type moon might have the effective insolation distance of Mars, and still have a lot of water.