NASA's Kepler Confirms its First Planet in Habitable Zone of Sun-like Star

this one wont be earth-like its too big.

but they say they've got 10 candidates that are near earth size in the HZ look forward to seeing those details

Originally posted by azulejo
NOW

THIS ARE MY KINDA NEWS IN ATS!



This are incredible news and its relatively close to us!

The planet, Kepler 22-b, lies about 600 light-years away and is about 2.4 times the size of Earth, and has a temperature of about 22C.

Where are you that this is relatively close!? Or relative to what? It would take 600 years if we could go as fast as light.

It's gonna be a bear to walk around on. At 2.4 times the radius of earth, how many earth gravities would that be? Anybody know?

Originally posted by SuchIsLife
I am just glad that we do not yet have the technology or capabilities to go there and either rape/exploit the planet of its natural resources, or for the elite to use it as a holiday destination or escape rock for when TSHTF.

I may also be wrong here, but is it not possible for a life supporting planet to exist outside of the "habitable zone". i.e A planet with internal warmth - life may still exist such as the deep sea life forms that live near the sulphur plumes here on Earth?

You seem predisposed to look at humanity as bad. I think raping another planet that does not have life is preferable to destroying our own. Humans are of nature just like everything else. What we do is exactly what nature intended so why the negativity? Nearly all living creatures change the environment they live in/on. We are just faster at it. We NEED to move out into space to get resources so we can continue to survive and evolve. We are not evil, though some of us do some evil things to each other.

Sure, I can see life living in a bunch of different places if it has a chance to get started.

Originally posted by schuyler
It's gonna be a bear to walk around on. At 2.4 times the radius of earth, how many earth gravities would that be? Anybody know?

I suppose it would depend on your theoretical definition of the origin of gravity. There are several competing theories.

Very interesting. I believe the first thing to be required would be a decent magnetosphere, otherwise it wouldn't be possible to have life as here on Earth. Maybe I am mistaken, but magnetosphere is at least as important as atmosphere. If the gravity on the Moon is 1/6 than ours, then it should be easy to make the math but then the like-humans would be much smaller than us.

To get there it's a bit difficult...we didn't get light-speed spacecrafts yet, figure out the superluminal

One thing that annoys me about NASA, is that they continue to look for life using our own set of conditional variables for life on Earth. Why do they thing that life can only exist with our own boring carbon based complex?

I've read so many sci-fi books that have talked about alien life being comprised of exotic compounds and conditions. I remember reading a book by Stephen Baxter called Manifold Space (Hardcore sci-fi, a must read) and in it, the protagonist visits a hostile planet where tree like life was made up of a plastic/polymer complex (Something exotic, I can remember well).

Why can't that be possible? Maybe if NASA looked outside the box that they might find alien life. Who knows, maybe our carbon based life is the 1% of the universe and something that we think is hogwash in terms of "living" conditions is the 99%!

NASA, why you no think outside the box?

reply to post by Jepic


Lol. Cool. Were never going to get there so it doesn't matter. There's literally billions and billions of things out in the void that could kill you, let alone microgravity. There's radiation, micrometeors, rogue blackholes (can't see out there its pitch black practically), asteroids, comets, gamma bursts, rogue planets and the list goes on and on. Humanity will die off before the first colonists terraform mars. Its pointless worrying about whats out there.

Originally posted by warpcrafter

Originally posted by schuyler
It's gonna be a bear to walk around on. At 2.4 times the radius of earth, how many earth gravities would that be? Anybody know?

I suppose it would depend on your theoretical definition of the origin of gravity. There are several competing theories.

I thought there might be a mathematical formula based on size and/or density.

It's big news but I could swear I already heard them announce finding two of them including this one either last year or earlier this year.

Originally posted by yeti101
this one wont be earth-like its too big.

so certain are you. we don't know that earth's can even be characterized in the stars. we could be an anomoly.
or for all we know, "earth-like" could be anything up to the size of Jupiter or as small as Pluto.

size alone wouldn't determine the ability for organic creatures to form. it could be warm enough internally and far enough from it's star physically that make up for whatever discrepancies you could come up with.

life finds a way. we are suited for this planet, and this planet alone. we have to create life support systems that replicate it's natural environment. they would need to do the same, whatever they are made of.

reply to post by superman2012


I think with announcements like there might be a particle faster than light will make our current accepted models of distance and time obsolete.

What if 600 LIGHT years could be 6 days away when we learn more about this new particle? Science across the board is starting to link up and its been getting more and more interesting over the past very short years. What if this is the first planet we make some kind of contact with?

Originally posted by schuyler

Originally posted by warpcrafter

Originally posted by schuyler
It's gonna be a bear to walk around on. At 2.4 times the radius of earth, how many earth gravities would that be? Anybody know?

I suppose it would depend on your theoretical definition of the origin of gravity. There are several competing theories.

I thought there might be a mathematical formula based on size and/or density.

That is only one theory. Others relate gravity to magnetism or dark matter. They're all just guesses as far as I'm concerned.

How long will it take before the US declared that we should spread "democracy" and "liberate" the new planet if it supports life

So I wonder how long it would take to get to that planet with our current technology.

Is this really the first planet seen by NASA in a goldilocks zone? I thought it is already an old news that NASA confirmed a planet in a habitable zone. I may have come from a different timeline.

Originally posted by wavemaker
Is this really the first planet seen by NASA in a goldilocks zone? I thought it is already an old news that NASA confirmed a planet in a habitable zone. I may have come from a different timeline.

Its first planet around middle of goldilocks zone. There has been others that are around its borders. Gliese 581 d is one potential planet with life, but its too cold if it doesn't have greenhouse effect, also its tidally locked, other side has always day, and other eternal night. It may be first Ocean Planet if water stays liquid there.

But Gliese 581 is potential Star system if we start colonizing new planets, its only 20 ly away, very close in astronomical terms.

Who the hell cares ? it's 625 light years away.

Unless some-one comes up with Warp Drive, it's another non-event.

Cosmic..

reply to post by Clisen33


nasa do consider other possibilities as their work on the moon titan shows

but we know for a fact a planet of earth size at the distance from a star like our sun can produce complex life and even intelligent life. Its the only reference for complex life we have and the best and most obvious place to start.

its not as if theyre ignoring planets outside these parameters but the ones closest to earth are the most interesting to us.

reply to post by schuyler


for a true "earth size" planet we're looking at a maximum of 1.5 earth radius. A 2.4 earth radius planet is going to be about 4 or 5 earth mass depending on its density. Its outside what science currently defines as "earth size" which is 0.75 - 2 earth mass.

Computer models suggest a planet above 2 earth mass collects too much gas when forming so this planet is probably more like neptune than earth. Thick cloud deck , no sunlight reaching the surface, higher pressure...bad place for complex life like ours.