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The Happy Warrior
Joined: 10 Feb 2010
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 Posted: Thu Sep 30, 2010 10:16 am Post subject: Astronomers find Planet in 'Goldilocks' Zone |
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http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100929/ap_on_sc/us_sci_new_earths
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It is about three times the mass of Earth, slightly larger in width and much closer to its star � 14 million miles away versus 93 million. It's so close to its version of the sun that it orbits every 37 days. And it doesn't rotate much, so one side is almost always bright, the other dark.
Temperatures can be as hot as 160 degrees or as frigid as 25 degrees below zero, but in between � in the land of constant sunrise � it would be "shirt-sleeve weather," said co-discoverer Steven Vogt of the University of California at Santa Cruz.
It's unknown whether water actually exists on the planet, and what kind of atmosphere it has. But because conditions are ideal for liquid water, and because there always seems to be life on Earth where there is water, Vogt believes "that chances for life on this planet are 100 percent." |
A bit of hype in there. But definitely newsworthy. |
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caniff
Joined: 03 Feb 2004
Location: All over the map
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| Posted: Thu Sep 30, 2010 10:38 am Post subject: |
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| Three times the size, huh? How long before we trash that place? |
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The Happy Warrior
Joined: 10 Feb 2010
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| Posted: Thu Sep 30, 2010 11:14 am Post subject: |
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| caniff wrote: |
| Three times the size, huh? How long before we trash that place? |
That's funny. I sent this comment out when I emailed the story to my friends.
| The Happy Warrior wrote: |
Its a dwarf star, so my personal theory is as follows:
That life hasn't yet developed very far, and humans will get there in no time (within 10,000 years), and we'll screw it up for the nascent/future lifeforms, as we always do! |
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bucheon bum
Joined: 16 Jan 2003
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| Posted: Thu Sep 30, 2010 11:26 am Post subject: |
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| The Happy Warrior wrote: |
| caniff wrote: |
| Three times the size, huh? How long before we trash that place? |
That's funny. I sent this comment out when I emailed the story to my friends.
| The Happy Warrior wrote: |
Its a dwarf star, so my personal theory is as follows:
That life hasn't yet developed very far, and humans will get there in no time (within 10,000 years), and we'll screw it up for the nascent/future lifeforms, as we always do! |
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Yeah, those were my thoughts when I read the article. No, we're not cynical whatsoever. 
20 light years away though so it's safe for now. |
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Konglishman
Joined: 14 Sep 2007
Location: Nanjing
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| Posted: Thu Sep 30, 2010 12:06 pm Post subject: |
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| caniff wrote: |
| Three times the size, huh? How long before we trash that place? |
Actually, several things should be kept in mind. First of all, it is three to four times the mass (not size) of Earth. Also, it is apparently a little more dense than Earth is since its diameter is only 1.2 to 1.4 times that of Earth's diameter. This means that its volume will be between 1.7 and 2.7 times that of Earth's volume. More importantly, from realestate considerations, its surface area will be between 1.4 and 2.0 times that of Earth's surface area.
However, the planet is tidally locked with its star. In other words, on one side of the planet, it is always daytime (and possibly very hot) and on the opposite side, it is always freezing night. Of course, you definitely do not want to live on the dark side. That now leaves at most an area equal to Earth's area that is habitable.
Also, I would imagine that this situation of temperature extremes would produce some very crazy weather. Finally, as noted in the news report, the most habitable region would be the area bordering the dark and light sides known as the "terminator" which leads me to wonder how much ideal realestate there really is on this planet. |
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caniff
Joined: 03 Feb 2004
Location: All over the map
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| Posted: Thu Sep 30, 2010 12:18 pm Post subject: |
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| Konglishman wrote: |
Of course, you definitely do not want to live on the dark side. That now leaves at most an area equal to Earth's area that is habitable.
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It doesn't have to be habitable for us to exploit it, just accessible. |
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Sergio Stefanuto
Joined: 14 May 2009
Location: UK
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| Posted: Thu Sep 30, 2010 12:21 pm Post subject: |
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The Happy Warrior's article dubiously asserted:
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| And it doesn't rotate much, so one side is almost always bright, the other dark. |
Its rotation on its axis is identical to its orbit around its star - 37 days. This (tidal locking) necessitates...
The same thing occurs on our Moon in relation to the Earth. The Earth is only visible from one side (and in a fixed position) and never visible from the other |
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caniff
Joined: 03 Feb 2004
Location: All over the map
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| Posted: Thu Sep 30, 2010 12:37 pm Post subject: |
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| Sergio Stefanuto wrote: |
| The same thing occurs on our Moon in relation to the Earth. The Earth is only visible from one side (and in a fixed position) and never visible from the other |
Thus Pink Floyd made one of the coolest albums ever. Just think of the great music this discovery could inspire. |
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The Happy Warrior
Joined: 10 Feb 2010
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| Posted: Thu Sep 30, 2010 1:15 pm Post subject: |
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| So when we look at Gliese 5, we're viewing it as it was during the year 1990. Right? |
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chellovek
Joined: 29 Feb 2008
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| Posted: Thu Sep 30, 2010 6:54 pm Post subject: |
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Let's trash the place.
Also, can't anyone think of a better name than "Goldilocks Zone"? How about "Distance from star where liquid water can exist thus perhaps yielding the possibility of life as we know it zone"? |
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Konglishman
Joined: 14 Sep 2007
Location: Nanjing
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| Posted: Thu Sep 30, 2010 8:38 pm Post subject: |
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| caniff wrote: |
| Konglishman wrote: |
Of course, you definitely do not want to live on the dark side. That now leaves at most an area equal to Earth's area that is habitable.
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It doesn't have to be habitable for us to exploit it, just accessible. |
Then, why are having this discussion if your interest does not lie in the possibility of having people live there.
I mean there are a lot of places that we can exploit that are much closer to home (Earth). For example, the astroid belt is believed to be very rich in metals. If someone could develop an effective technology for mining the astroid belt, that person could potentially become very rich.
Last edited by Konglishman on Fri Oct 01, 2010 1:55 am; edited 1 time in total |
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JMO
Joined: 18 Jul 2006
Location: Daegu
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| Posted: Thu Sep 30, 2010 9:12 pm Post subject: |
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| We are going to find out that planets capable of supporting life are very common. It is awesome. It sucks that we are all probably several generations to young to see how this develops in terms of reaching some of these places. |
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comm
Joined: 22 Jun 2010
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| Posted: Thu Sep 30, 2010 10:17 pm Post subject: |
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| So with this tidally locked planet... doesn't seem likely that water evaporates on the hot side (and the eternally twilight area), migrate through the atmosphere to the cold side and becomes permanently locked in ice? Wouldn't all, or nearly all, of the water end up on the dark side as ice eventually? |
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caniff
Joined: 03 Feb 2004
Location: All over the map
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| Posted: Fri Oct 01, 2010 4:20 am Post subject: |
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| Konglishman wrote: |
| caniff wrote: |
| Konglishman wrote: |
Of course, you definitely do not want to live on the dark side. That now leaves at most an area equal to Earth's area that is habitable.
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It doesn't have to be habitable for us to exploit it, just accessible. |
Then, why are having this discussion if your interest does not lie in the possibility of having people live there. |
Well, I was assuming that some of the planet's surface would be habitable, thereby making the rest of the planet's resources accessible (by various possible means, I guess). |
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caniff
Joined: 03 Feb 2004
Location: All over the map
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| Posted: Fri Oct 01, 2010 6:16 am Post subject: |
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| comm wrote: |
| So with this tidally locked planet... doesn't seem likely that water evaporates on the hot side (and the eternally twilight area), migrate through the atmosphere to the cold side and becomes permanently locked in ice? Wouldn't all, or nearly all, of the water end up on the dark side as ice eventually? |
Hmmmm....any resident scientists care to address this? |
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