Welcome to DU!
The truly grassroots left-of-center political community where regular people, not algorithms, drive the discussions and set the standards.
Join the community:
Create a free account
Support DU (and get rid of ads!):
Become a Star Member
Latest Breaking News
General Discussion
The DU Lounge
All Forums
Issue Forums
Culture Forums
Alliance Forums
Region Forums
Support Forums
Help & Search
General Discussion
Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsNewfound super-Earth planet might support life, scientists say!
Newfound super-Earth might support life, scientists sayPotentially habitable planet detected in triple-star system just 22 light-years away
By Denise Chow
February 2, 2012
A potentially habitable alien planet one that scientists say is the best candidate yet to harbor water, and possibly even life, on its surface has been found around a nearby star.
The planet is located in the habitable zone of its host star, which is a narrow circumstellar region where temperatures are neither too hot nor too cold for liquid water to exist on the planet's surface.
"It's the holy grail of exoplanet research to find a planet around a star orbiting at the right distance so it's not too close where it would lose all its water and boil away, and not too far where it would all freeze," Steven Vogt, an astronomer at the University of California at Santa Cruz, told Space.com. "It's right smack in the habitable zone there's no question or discussion about it. It's not on the edge, it's right in there."
An alien super-Earth
The researchers estimate that the planet, called GJ 667Cc, is at least 4.5 times as massive as Earth, which makes it a so-called super-Earth. It takes roughly 28 days to make one orbital lap around its parent star, which is located a mere 22 light-years away from Earth, in the constellation Scorpius (the Scorpion).
Read the full article at:
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/46237284/ns/technology_and_science-space/
Artwork shows the alien planet GJ 667Cc, which is located in what could well be the habitable zone of its parent sun in a triple-star system.
InfoView thread info, including edit history
TrashPut this thread in your Trash Can (My DU » Trash Can)
BookmarkAdd this thread to your Bookmarks (My DU » Bookmarks)
6 replies, 1875 views
ShareGet links to this post and/or share on social media
AlertAlert this post for a rule violation
PowersThere are no powers you can use on this post
EditCannot edit other people's posts
ReplyReply to this post
EditCannot edit other people's posts
Rec (4)
ReplyReply to this post
6 replies
= new reply since forum marked as read
Highlight:
NoneDon't highlight anything
5 newestHighlight 5 most recent replies
Newfound super-Earth planet might support life, scientists say! (Original Post)
Better Believe It
Feb 2012
OP
Love all the exoplanet news, hate how every other article puts words in peoples' mouths. (nt)
Posteritatis
Feb 2012
#1
Posteritatis
(18,807 posts)1. Love all the exoplanet news, hate how every other article puts words in peoples' mouths. (nt)
1620rock
(2,218 posts)2. 4.5 times as massive as Earth? Too much gravity for our species I think.
Fool Count
(1,230 posts)4. Not really. As the gravitational acceleration goes as M/R^2, where M is planet's mass and R is
its radius, and, assuming the same density, the mass goes as R^3, the gravity would increase
linearly with radius. For a planet 4.5 times more massive than Earth the radius will only be
1.65 times that of the Earth's radius and so will the gravity. Sure, one would feel a bit (1.65 times)
heavier, but it is still quite a livable environment for humans.
RebelOne
(30,947 posts)3. In order to reach it, we would have to travel at the speed of light,
which we have not done yet, and even then it would take 22 years to get there.
Fool Count
(1,230 posts)5. It's not like there is a lot of less distant alternatives.
The closest star (Proxima Centauri) is 4.2 light years away.
MattBaggins
(7,904 posts)6. If it only takes 28 days for one lap
what effect would that have on it's weather patterns? Can a planet move too fast to support a staple ionosphere and protective layers?