Earth-Sized Planet Discovered Orbiting Around Nearest Star - Wired [fornadablog.blogspot.com]
[fornadablog.blogspot.com], Earth-Sized Planet Discovered Orbiting Around Nearest Star - Wired
Astronomers have discovered an exoplanet roughly the size of Earth orbiting Alpha Centauri B, the star nearest our sun.
The Alpha Centauri system â€" composed of three stars orbiting one another â€" is only 4.4 light-years away, a cosmic stone’s throw from us. Though the newly discovered planet has about the same mass as our own, its orbit is 25 times smaller, so a year on this planet passes in just 3.2 days. This means the planet is sitting up against its star, roasting at perhaps 2,200 degrees Fahrenheit with a surface likely composed of molten lava.
While the new planet is probably devoid of life, many scientists see the discovery as a hopeful sign. It proves that at least one planet formed in the system, and perhaps other small planets exist there at the right distance to host life.
“Finding in our closest neighbor a one-Earth-mass planet really opens up the prospect for finding planets there in the habitable zone,†said astronomer Stephane Udry of the University of Geneva, one of the co-authors of the paper, which will appear in Nature on Oct. 17.
Because it is so close, the Alpha Centauri system has been a fertile place in authors’ imaginations, serving as the setting for the Transformer’s homeworld of Cybertron as well as the blue-skinned Na’vi’s homeworld of Pandora in Avatar. Though these science fiction creations are, well, fiction, the system also has long drawn scientists searching for exoplanets. This one evaded detection because it is so small and its effect is so slight.
The team watched the Alpha Centauri system very carefully, looking for a characteristic wobble that indicated a planet was gravitationally tugging on one of the stars. The planet’s tiny perturbation caused the star to wobble at roughly one mile per hour. You walk faster than that.
Training their telescope at Alpha Centauri B, the team logged more than 450 days of observation. Their data was so precise, they could see sunspots on the star as well as the effects from giant solar flares. They had to rule out all these other possibilities and look for a repeated pattern indicating the existence of a planet.
“The amount of effort they’ve devoted to this star is pretty much unprecedented,†said astronomer Greg Laughlin of the University of California, Santa Cruz, who was not involved with the work. The team was lucky since Alpha Centauri B is a relatively quiet star and they eventually found a tiny signal in all the noise.
That Alpha Centauri B is so close is exciting to astronomers, said Laughlin. It means they can make follow up observations to determine further characteristics of the new exoplanet. Though it would take 40,000 years to travel to the Alpha Centauri system using modern-day rockets, future means of propulsion might one day take probes to the distant world.
So what would it look like if we sent a rocket to Alpha Centauri? The triple star system is made up of two sun-like stars, Alpha Centauri A and Alpha Centauri B, as well as the dwarf star Alpha Centauri C. Compared to our sun, Alpha Centauri A is slightly larger and brighter while Alpha Centauri B is just a little smaller and half as bright.
Days on a planet orbiting Alpha Centauri A or B would follow a weird alien cycle. When the surface pointed toward the parent star, it would have daytime much like our own and when it turned away from both stars it would experience an Earth-like nighttime. But when the planet was between the two stars, it would have a third option: a twilight-like evening lit by a bright star. Everything would appear as if outside a floodlit stadium at night.
Image: ESO
Recommend Earth-Sized Planet Discovered Orbiting Around Nearest Star - Wired Issues
Question by Kome: What does this sentence mean, "Here lies the one whose name was writ in water?"? It's written on the grave of John Keats, who died at the age of 25. These are the words he chose for himself. What does "writ" mean?? Best answer for What does this sentence mean, "Here lies the one whose name was writ in water?"?:
Answer by arnold1
'writ' means written. The phrase basically means that life (and his success/fame) was fleeting... just as a name written on water will disappear completely, so - Keats believed - will he.
Find More What does this sentence mean, "Here lies the one whose name was writ in water?"? Issues
LIKE, FAVORITE & SUBSCRIBE! Can we get over 40 likes? if we meet that challenge new Minecraft uploaded before scheduled episode! Shrunk down to a miniature size. You are stuck in an Ant Farm. While stuck in this Ant Farm we are trying to complete some achievements before we break our way out! My main objective is to complete all the main achievements. Then move on to the other challenges. Checklist: Main Achievements: [ âœ" ] Make a bow [ âœ" ] Make glass [ âœ" ] Make a bucket [ âœ" ] Make iron tools [ âœ" ] Make an infinite water source [ âœ" ] Find and harvest sugar cane [ âœ" ] Make a bookshelf [ âœ" ] Enchant an item [ âœ" ] Make a house [ âœ" ] Find, harvest and grow red and brown giant mushrooms [ âœ" ] Find and activate the hidden chicken spawner [ âœ" ] Make a cake [ âœ" ] Make TNT [ âœ" ] Tame a wolf [ âœ" ] Make a wheat farm [ âœ" ] Make a melon farm [ âœ" ] Make a compass [ ✗ ] Find and harvest all 8 diamonds [ ✗ ] Destroy / disable all spawners (Tota l 18 hostile spawners) Nether Ant Farm Achievements: [ âœ" ] Enter the nether [ ✗ ] Get gold nuggets [ ✗ ] Make a clock [ ✗ ] Make a golden apple [ âœ" ] Find and harvest glowstone [ âœ" ] Find the Nether Fortress [ âœ" ] Find the treasure room in the Nether Fortress [ ✗ ] Destroy all Nether Spawners (Total 14) [ ✗ ] Make a healing potion If you want to play along, Here is the Map Download: www.minecraftforum.net *I'm playing on v3.0.1 Series Playlist: www.youtube.com Show Page: www.youtube.com ... Ant Farm Survival - "Nether Almost Complete" - Ep.25
0 comments:
Post a Comment