Habitable Planet outside fo the solar system

[Xenocrates]

Nice spot, I found some more astronomy news here:

http://news.yahoo.com/s/space/20070423/sc_space/outofthisworldhypothesiscosmicforcescontrollifeonearth;_ylt=AnPgWTGab5QnbnRfvcTHZUgPLBIF

Basically the theory is that as our galaxy rotates the Earth is exposed to more or less cosmic radiation (64 million year cycle). So this could be a major factor in evolution (through mutation) and biodiversity.

Maybe like birds, we should migrate to the other side of the galaxy every 64,000,000 years? I'm not saying that birds migrate to the other side of the galaxy - heck you know what I mean!

 

[Abaddon]

Yeah i no where's are nasa funding going. It really seams like euros are making useful strides where americans make poinless strides like sending people to nearyl unhabitbal mars.

If you actually read your own article:

it's worth noting that scientists' requirements for habitability count Mars in that category: a size relatively similar to Earth's with temperatures that would permit liquid water.

 

[El_Machinae]

It might be a really old planet, too, which means that there's plenty of time for evolution to occur. And, being 20 light years away, they should be getting our Airwolf and A-Team reruns right about now.

This is what's cool about international research and the system we have of sharing our discoveries.

 

[Stylesjl]

Pretty cool, maybe there is life on that planet too (no sentient, industrialised lifeforms though, otherwise we would already be receiving radio signals)

 

[Abaddon]

A world that doest revolve would be pretty cool to.. imagine the juxaposition in the twilight zone.

 

[El_Machinae]

If people are sick of waiting for 'the governments' to fund space development, I think that charities like the Planetary Society (http://www.planetary.org/home/) give pretty good bang-for-the-buck. It's a way of you giving money to get humanity to space faster

 

[Bozo Erectus]

Maybe when our technology is advanced enough to actually start detecting signs of advanced intelligence in nearby start systems, the aliens will reveal themselves, 'cause the jig is up anyway.

 

[Cuivienen]

Sure, it's possible. The one thing we don't know for certain is if gas giants can have Earth-sized moons. There is a hypothesis that there is a correlation between the gas giant's mass and the size of its moons.

Actually, I don't see why this planet would be tidally locked to its star at all. The star is much, much, much less massive than the Sun, and you need relatively massive objects or very short distances to cause tidal locking. Since Mercury isn't even tidally locked to the Sun (just harmonized), I think it's highly unlikely that this planet is tidally locked.

It might be a really old planet, too, which means that there's plenty of time for evolution to occur. And, being 20 light years away, they should be getting our Airwolf and A-Team reruns right about now.

This is what's cool about international research and the system we have of sharing our discoveries.

Not necessarily. Though red dwarfs do last for a long time, the star itself need not be particularly old yet.

 

[Urederra]

Actually, I don't see why this planet would be tidally locked to its star at all. The star is much, much, much less massive than the Sun, and you need relatively massive objects or very short distances to cause tidal locking. Since Mercury isn't even tidally locked to the Sun (just harmonized), I think it's highly unlikely that this planet is tidally locked.

The article says it is tidally locked, but you are right in part, they might be wrong. I guess it is difficult to see if a planet rotates from 20 light years away. But you don't need a huge massive sun to lock a planet. Our moon is tidally locked to the Earth and the Earth is not that big.

A world that doest revolve would be pretty cool to.. imagine the juxaposition in the twilight zone.

On the other hand, if the planet has an atmosphere, the twilight zone must be very, very, very windy, since it is only one side of the planet being heated. And that is the problem of being tidally locked and using a mean temperature to describe the planet, the mean temperature in the planet could be, say 15 celsius, but in a tidally locked planet that could mean 70 celsius in the bright side and -40 celsius in the dark side, with strong winds in the twilight zone.

 

[Cheezy the Wiz]

Yes, I realize that. I was talking about a 'white' dwarf. The sun will become a white dwarf after becoming a red giant. I made the mistake between white and red dwarves.

That's true, but during the Red Giant phase the Sun's diameter will expand beyond Earth's orbit, we will be destroyed.

EDIT: If the planet doesn't spin, we could still live in a sort of "life zone" in the area where darkness and light meet.

Also, a question: Winner, you said that Red Dwarfs are "flare stars," will settling on the cold side of the planet protect us from said harmful effects?

 

[Fugitive Sisyphus]

While it is true that red dwarfs exists for an extremely long time, the planets orbiting it would still have to be relatively young in order to support life because it is thought that habitable planets need to be geologically active. If a planet gets too old it will lose its internal heating and become geologically inactive and a planet needs to be geologically active in order for it to have a magnetic field, atmosphere, and other important things.

 

[Bozo Erectus]

While it is true that red dwarfs exists for an extremely long time, the planets orbiting it would still have to be relatively young in order to support life because it is thought that habitable planets need to be geologically active. If a planet gets too old it will lose its internal heating and become geologically inactive and a planet needs to be geologically active in order for it to have a magnetic field, atmosphere, and other important things.

Being that close to its sun must pretty much guarantee that it remains geologically active, the gravity from its star would keep its core very hot.

 

[GoodEnoughForMe]

While cool, we have to remember that Mars falls under the same category as this planet.

 

[Bozo Erectus]

So? Mars has life. I know, I know, theres no proof. In a few short years you'll have all the proof you need.

 

[sonorakitch]

I was indeed excited about this news until I learnt it was discovered by the ESA.

I now suspected that a member of the Turkish cleaning crew dropped a blueberry mentos on the lens.

But good job anyway.

~chris

 

[GoodEnoughForMe]

So? Mars has life. I know, I know, theres no proof. In a few short years you'll have all the proof you need.

Heh. I'm just saying we have a similar planet in our relative backyard.

 

[Bozo Erectus]

Heh. I'm just saying we have a similar planet in our relative backyard.

Ah ok. This new one sounds more friendly though. They said its the same temperature as Chicago, or something like that.

 

[Fugitive Sisyphus]

Being that close to its sun must pretty much guarantee that it remains geologically active, the gravity from its star would keep its core very hot.

Mercury is geologically inactive and our sun has a much greater gravitational affect on a planet that close than any red dwarf. The reason why moons like Io are geologically active is due due to tidal forces which strength is inverse cubic in proportion to the distance. In other words the planet would have to be REALLY close to have strong tidal force exerting on it. And of course the planet can't be too close to its star or it will burn up.

 

[Bill3000]

Ah ok. This new one sounds more friendly though. They said its the same temperature as Chicago, or something like that.

The article said that the planet itself has a mean temperature between 32 and 104 degrees F. That is completely different from saying that the range of temperatures is within 32 and 104 degrees F. Besides, that's a measure most likely as a result of distance from the star, which is quite different from that of the atmosphere.

If you calculate the mean temperature of Earth without correcting for the effects of the atmosphere, you'll get a temperature that is below the freezing point of water. I'd know, as I've done it myself.

A planet within the habitable zone of a star is obviously critically important, but that's not the only factor.

 

[Masquerouge]

This is really cool. It means that there's bound to be a lot more of Earth-like planets out there - what would be the chances of discovering one if they were extremely rare?

I guess it shows that we didn't find any previously because our tools were not powerful enough.