Closest ever planet which could house intelligent ALIENS discovered

This is pretty amazing, but still, 14 light years away is pretty far...

Hot on the heels of Earth 2 - another planet discovered this summer which has the potential to harbour life - Wolf 1061c is the closest planet outside our solar system which could hold alien life.

Dubbed Earth 3, it is more than four times the mass of Earth. The large planet is still small enough to be rocky with a solid surface, but a year there lasts just 18 days.

It also orbits the Red Dwarf sun within the "Goldilocks zone" meaning its temperature would be just right to hold liquid water so life could potentially develop within its oceans if it has any.

In July NASA held a historic press conference revealing it had founder a "second Earth" using the Kepler telescope.

Wolf 1061c is just 14 light years away in the in the constellation of Ophiucus, orbiting the sun called Wolf 1061. 

It is one of three planets orbiting the star found by Australian astronomers.

Lead study author Dr Duncan Wright of the University of New South Wales (UNSW), said: "It is a particularly exciting find because all three planets (b, c and d) are of low enough mass to be potentially rocky and have a solid surface.

"The middle planet, Wolf 1061c, sits within the 'Goldilocks' zone where it might be possible for liquid water - and maybe even life - to exist.

Sauce

And just think, when I was a kid in the mid 1980's we were being told in school there weren't any other planets we knew of. Now, some 20 odd years later we've found HUNDREDS and some of them even could support life. . .

Part of me thinks they've known a lot more for a long time...and are just now turning the spigot on and letting the information begin to flow.

Incredible. Cool name as well Wonder if TESS or James Webb Telescope will be able to shed any light on the planet's atmosphere?

Which planet are they referring to as Earth 2? Is it Kepler 452b?

a reply to: Frocharocha

An 18 Day year? Woah that's fast.

Would that have any effect on the life on that planet?

Seems really really fast... Or is it "all relative" ?

originally posted by: Frocharocha
This is pretty amazing, but still, 14 light years away is pretty far...

In a 100,000 LY diameter galaxy, 14 LY is just "right around the corner".

I have no idea if there is any intelligent life living anywhere that near to us, but I find it an encouraging sign for the search of other intelligent life that there would be habitable planets so near to us. That makes it seem more likely that habitable planets are ubiquitous in the galaxy, which provides more opportunities for life to evolve intelligence.

originally posted by: MystikMushroom
And just think, when I was a kid in the mid 1980's we were being told in school there weren't any other planets we knew of. Now, some 20 odd years later we've found HUNDREDS and some of them even could support life. . .

Part of me thinks they've known a lot more for a long time...and are just now turning the spigot on and letting the information begin to flow.

Maybe none that we knew of, but if you asked any astronomer back then, I bet virtually all of them would have said they personally believed other planets existed (even habitable ones), even if they had no proof. It would be a real stretch for any of them to believe our sun is so unique that it would be the only star with planets.

originally posted by: PsychoEmperor
a reply to: Frocharocha

An 18 Day year? Woah that's fast.

Would that have any effect on the life on that planet?

Seems really really fast... Or is it "all relative" ?

In theory, it means life would evolve much faster and they would be able to move and talk much faster

We actually had a member swanne call this in the dreams and prophecy forum. Its a great discovery but I also wanted to give props to swanne for predicting it.
www.abovetopsecret.com...

originally posted by: WP4YT


In theory, it means life would evolve much faster and they would be able to move and talk much faster

No, not really.

The Earth used to take 22 hours to spin instead of 24. I doubt it made any dinosaurs evolve faster and/or move faster and/or talk faster.

originally posted by: WP4YT

originally posted by: PsychoEmperor
a reply to: Frocharocha

An 18 Day year? Woah that's fast.

Would that have any effect on the life on that planet?

Seems really really fast... Or is it "all relative" ?

In theory, it means life would evolve much faster and they would be able to move and talk much faster

Why would that be?

I think the main thing it would affect would be shorter (or non-existent) seasonal changes. That wouldn't make them talk or move faster. It's not like time would pass at a noticeably different rate.

a reply to: swanne

There you are. Sorry if my post is disrespectful in anyway but I just read your thread and seen this. You called it buddy

Wait a year there lasts 18 days? What do they mean by this? How long it takes for the planet to orbit around its sun? Does this suggest the planet has no rotation? And that the sun appears to rotate through a day and night cycle in a different way? Are they suggesting that the planet doesn't have a rotational axis, but because of the rate that the planet revolves around the sun there it is almost similar to our own perception of our solar system?

originally posted by: GiulXainx


Wait a year there lasts 18 days? What do they mean by this? How long it takes for the planet to orbit around its sun? Does this suggest the planet has no rotation? And that the sun appears to rotate through a day and night cycle in a different way? Are they suggesting that the planet doesn't have a rotational axis, but because of the rate that the planet revolves around the sun there it is almost similar to our own perception of our solar system?

I'm pretty sure it means that the planet revolves around its star in 18 Earth days.

a reply to: sosobad

Hehe actually I am just a bit thrown off myself. It is I who lacks manners, for I have not yet thanked you for noticing... You are one of the few who did! So thanks.

originally posted by: Soylent Green Is People

originally posted by: Frocharocha
This is pretty amazing, but still, 14 light years away is pretty far...

In a 100,000 LY diameter galaxy, 14 LY is just "right around the corner".

I have no idea if there is any intelligent life living anywhere that near to us, but I find it an encouraging sign for the search of other intelligent life that there would be habitable planets so near to us. That makes it seem more likely that habitable planets are ubiquitous in the galaxy, which provides more opportunities for life to evolve intelligence.

originally posted by: MystikMushroom
And just think, when I was a kid in the mid 1980's we were being told in school there weren't any other planets we knew of. Now, some 20 odd years later we've found HUNDREDS and some of them even could support life. . .

Part of me thinks they've known a lot more for a long time...and are just now turning the spigot on and letting the information begin to flow.

Maybe none that we knew of, but if you asked any astronomer back then, I bet virtually all of them would have said they personally believed other planets existed (even habitable ones), even if they had no proof. It would be a real stretch for any of them to believe our sun is so unique that it would be the only star with planets.

If there's inteligent life around, i would say it would be something like in Avatar, we are more advanced than most species around (and that's cool). But yeah, 14 years on galatic scale is like taking a few steps outside your house.

originally posted by: swanne
a reply to: sosobad

Hehe actually I am just a bit thrown off myself. It is I who lacks manners, for I have not yet thanked you for noticing... You are one of the few who did! So thanks.

Lottery numbers, long shot horses, football results? I don't mind just PM with details

a reply to: Soylent Green Is People

So besides shorter or non-existent seasons, a 18 day rotation around the Sun would have no effect on the life for that planet?

Could we perhaps land on that planet and colonize it with no issues as far as that speed goes?

a reply to: Frocharocha

OP, this discovery is truly awesome. 14 light-years is actually very close indeed - it's closer than Vega. You wouldn't even need FTL ships to get there - at the speed of light it would take 14 years. A long time, but not impossible.

Thanks for sharing! S&F.

originally posted by: PsychoEmperor
a reply to: Soylent Green Is People

So besides shorter or non-existent seasons, a 18 day rotation around the Sun would have no effect on the life for that planet?

I don't know, it might -- but I doubt very much if it would make them walk and talk faster.

It's simply moving around its star in a shorter period than Earth does. It's not like time itself moves noticeably faster.

a reply to: MystikMushroom

Some of us already knew as a child.

originally posted by: NewzNose
a reply to: MystikMushroom

Some of us already knew as a child.

Growing up in the two decades prior to proof of the first exoplanets being found (which happened in 1995), I -- just like many many other laymen, and certainly just like most scientists -- figured that planets were common throughout the galaxy and universe. The idea that other planets and habitable planets existed was not an unheard of idea whatsoever.

I mean, there was no reason that they wouldn't be common. It was just that none were known about to be able to specifically refer to and say "there's one".