posted on Sep, 4 2015 @ 05:07 PM
originally posted by: theRiverGoddess
Alpha Centari IS a star.....Personally I have never heard of ANY forrested stars, kinda HOT for that dont you think?
........................just sayin
it's true that it is a star or rather three nearby stars and many stars not so nearby related only by thier visual aspect from earth
making them part of the centaur constellation. of the three nearby stars two have had claims of detection of planets by astronomers. alpha centauri b
and alpha proxima. both are disputed but that is the way a lot of planetary claims start and even end; for example Barnards star was once though to
have a planet.
Alpha Centauri B b is disputed but if it exists it is so close to it's parent star that it's surface would be molten. any critters living there would
also have to be able to survive being molten.
Alpha Centauri b is a K type star. So it is very close to our own sun in all particulars even though our sun is a G type. they are close enough that
you could not tell and different effects if earth orbited that star instead. It'd probably take scrutiny by scientific instruments to figure it out
that something was off about the sun.
anyway as those two stars angular separation widens over the next few years many astronomers are going to be looking using modern instruments and
techniques. So if there are planets there there is a good chance we will find them this time around.
Alpha Centauri A is a type G2 to Sol's G4 (I'm a G-4 baby!) it is actually slightly more massive and 50 percent more luminous than our own sun. which
would mean probably it's goldilocks zone is wider or at least begins further out than our suns.
Alpha Centauri B is a k type. slightly cooler and slightly less massive than our sun. K stars are typically more orangeish than g type stars.
Alpha Proxima is a M type red dwarf. much smaller and cooler than our sun but like many red dwarfs is a flare star which complicates things for life
there. every once in a while it bursts out with intense radiation. but red dwarfs are the must abundant type of star and (even though flaring makes
life unlikely on many of them) red dwarfs are otherwise suited for planets because nearly 66 percent of them have planets statistically. not all m
dwarfs are flare stars and these stars are so cool that the life zone is very very very close to the star which is where most red dwarf planets
happen to be found so far.
EDIT: I meant to say also that sometimes a planet gets an informal name the same as the parent star. I could very well be that one Centauri planet
would be named Centaur something. So far as I know its designation Alpha Centauri B b. But someone might refer to it as Centaur, Centaurus, Centaurus,
Kent, Kentaurus, Kentaurus and appending a number afterward denoting it's orbital position WRT any other planets.
edit on 4-9-2015 by
stormbringer1701 because: (no reason given)