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Scientists discover Earth-like, water-rich planet: study

danarhea

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Astronomers have discovered a new Earth-like planet that is larger than our own and may be more than half covered with water, according to a study published Wednesday in the science journal Nature.

The so-called "super Earth" is about 42 light years away in another solar system and has a radius nearly 2.7 times larger than that of our planet, according to the study by the Harvard-Smithsonian Centre for Astrophysics.


The discovery of the planet, called GJ 1214b, represents a "major step forward" in the search for worlds similar to the Earth, added the University of California's Geoffrey Marcy in a commentary also in Nature.
The "newfound world" is too hot to sustain life as we know it, said the Harvard-Smithsonian Centre for Astrophysics in a statement.


Close, but no cigar, but this discovery does lend credence to the belief that life exists elsewhere. Who knows, maybe sometime in the distant future, we may travel to an earthlike place in another solar system. There is also the possibility that someone from another civilization, far removed from Earth, may travel here........

......But, alas, he may take a look around, see a Democratic or Republican Congresscritter, and decide that there really is no intelligent life here after all. :mrgreen:

Article is here.
 
Close, but no cigar, but this discovery does lend credence to the belief that life exists elsewhere. Who knows, maybe sometime in the distant future, we may travel to an earthlike place in another solar system. There is also the possibility that someone from another civilization, far removed from Earth, may travel here........

......But, alas, he may take a look around, see a Democratic or Republican Congresscritter, and decide that there really is no intelligent life here after all. :mrgreen:

Article is here.

It says 'life as we know it'. Life has a way of adapting. And how can a planet that hot be covered in water?

My question is, how do we get there?
 
It says 'life as we know it'. Life has a way of adapting. And how can a planet that hot be covered in water?

My question is, how do we get there?

Since this planet is more than two and a half time the size of the earth, it's mass is therefore more than 6 times that of earth. Therefore, the boiling point of water is going to be much, much higher there, probably more than 500 degrees Fahrenheit. So you can have liquid water that no carbon-based lifeform could ever live in.
 
It says 'life as we know it'. Life has a way of adapting. And how can a planet that hot be covered in water?

Atmospheric pressure.

Water boils at 100C on Earth at sea level because the air pressure is roughly 101,000 pa. It boils at a lower temperature in Colorado because the air pressure is lower, and it will boil at a higher temperature in Death Valley because the altitude there is below sea level.

A planet with 2.5 times the radius has more mass, hence a higher surface gravity, and hence most likely a heavier atmosphere, which will allow water to remain liquid at higher temps.

Given that there's life at the volcanic outlets on the Earth's sea floor, it's perfectly possible for this planet, known to have water, to have some form of life. No good reason to think it shouldn't.

At 42 light years away, we don't get there, possibly never.
 
Part of the reason we detect these "oversize" planets is because our detection methods are too unsophisticated yet to easily find earth-size worlds.

At 42 light years away, we don't get there, possibly never.

Maybe never, but maybe not. All it takes is another Einstein-level genius to kick the applecart over and come up with a new theory. Could happen tomorrow, or in 10 or 50 years, or 500 years.
 
Maybe never, but maybe not. All it takes is another Einstein-level genius to kick the applecart over and come up with a new theory. Could happen tomorrow, or in 10 or 50 years, or 500 years.

Another Einstein-level genius won't come till 2130. Trust me I have a fifth sense:3oops:

It's such a shame that we can't take a picture of the planet regardless of being this far.
 
Another Einstein wouldn't necessarily make a difference, we put men on the moon, and sent probes beyond the solar system using Newtonian mechanics.
 
Its possible we could get some good scientific data. Assuming that casimir-effect based reactionless propulsion is practical, we could send out a probe and wait about 100 years for results.
 
Since this planet is more than two and a half time the size of the earth, it's mass is therefore more than 6 times that of earth. Therefore, the boiling point of water is going to be much, much higher there, probably more than 500 degrees Fahrenheit. So you can have liquid water that no carbon-based lifeform could ever live in.

Didn't you see that movie Evolution? Bout the nitrogen based lifeforms?

:lol: Hey man, it could happen.
 
Since this planet is more than two and a half time the size of the earth, it's mass is therefore more than 6 times that of earth. Therefore, the boiling point of water is going to be much, much higher there, probably more than 500 degrees Fahrenheit. So you can have liquid water that no carbon-based lifeform could ever live in.

No carbon-based lifeform that we know of.
 
Close, but no cigar

Yeah it was. If it could sustain life like ours, we'd have to put a lot of effort into making a device which could destroy it.
 
Atmospheric pressure.

Water boils at 100C on Earth at sea level because the air pressure is roughly 101,000 pa. It boils at a lower temperature in Colorado because the air pressure is lower, and it will boil at a higher temperature in Death Valley because the altitude there is below sea level.

What form of witchcraft is this!?
 
Does it have oil..?
 
How do they determine it has water? Not doubting it, just wondering what the indicator is.
 
How do they determine it has water? Not doubting it, just wondering what the indicator is.

From the article

We find that the planetary mass and radius are consistent with a composition of primarily water enshrouded by a hydrogen–helium envelope that is only 0.05% of the mass of the planet. The atmosphere is probably escaping hydrodynamically, indicating that it has undergone significant evolution during its history. The star is small and only 13 parsecs away, so the planetary atmosphere is amenable to study with current observatories.

Looks like density calculations. Not sure how they work it out. I would have thought a form of spectroscopy.
 
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Could usable oil come from non-carbon based organic lifeforms? Not that science has ever had to ask this, but I just wonder...

Science has asked that. There is a theory of non-organic oil production; but there's no way to really test it because I think it requires outrageous pressures and temp. I'd have to look it up again to see exactly what the theory states.
 
Can we go there and secretly abduct and return individuals living on the fringe of society so that they can appear more whacked out to their peers then they were previously?
 
From the article



Looks like density calculations. Not sure how they work it out. I would have thought a form of spectroscopy.

They know the mass of the planet from it's motion about it's parent star. simple Newtonian physics.

The distance of the planet to the star is known, the energy radiated by the star is a known value, hence the temperature of the planet is easily calculable.

It's mass and temperature tells one that it's a rocky terrestrial planet, not a gas giant.

If they've managed to get a spectroscopic shot of the planet and didn't discover it by simple astrometry, then they know the composition of the atmosphere fairly reliably. If it was discovered astrometrically, th eknowledge of the planetary mass and temperature and assumptions regarding the composition of the nebula that formed that solar system will lead to some conclusions regarding atmosphere and planetary make-up.

Also, I would be extremely leery of saying that this planet cannot harbor life. Our knowledge of life's origins is based on the study of only one planet, hardly a sample size to satisfy any statistical generalizations.
 
Can we go there and secretly abduct and return individuals living on the fringe of society so that they can appear more whacked out to their peers then they were previously?

We could **** with them and send them back with really random earth objects. I say we send them back with Furbies.
 
Close, but no cigar, but this discovery does lend credence to the belief that life exists elsewhere. Who knows, maybe sometime in the distant future, we may travel to an earthlike place in another solar system. There is also the possibility that someone from another civilization, far removed from Earth, may travel here........

......But, alas, he may take a look around, see a Democratic or Republican Congresscritter, and decide that there really is no intelligent life here after all. :mrgreen:

Article is here.
Did the scientists say whether they saw any signs of global warming protests going on?
 
Part of the reason we detect these "oversize" planets is because our detection methods are too unsophisticated yet to easily find earth-size worlds.

What's really impressive though is that even 10 years ago they weren't able to detect much anything but Jupiter-size gas giants (over 10 times the size of earth). They'll be finding earth-sized planets soon.
 
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