Planet Discovered Orbiting Alpha Centauri (Nearest Star to Earth)

[Caveat Emperor]

http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/technolo...-sized-planet/

he first results are in — and yes, there is at least one planet orbiting Alpha Centauri B, one of the three stars clustered together there. European astronomers, using a 3.6 meter telescope at the La Silla Observatory in Chile, report it is remarkably small — about as massive as Earth. Worlds that small have been beyond earthlings’ capacity to detect them until just very recently.
Let’s get some details out of the way quickly. The newly found planet is probably hellish, only about 4 million miles from its host star (we’re 93 million miles from ours). It’s also fast, completing one orbit — one “year” — in only 3.2 of our days.

Doesn't sound like a great place to visit, though.

[Slyder]

Originally Posted by Caveat Emperor

http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/technolo...-sized-planet/



Doesn't sound like a great place to visit, though.

Breaking news, Jersey Shore Stars set foot on the planet and said its great for their tans. A shade beyond Oompa Loompa Orange has been discovered!

[marcshoe]

“In those days spirits were brave, the stakes were high, men were real men, women were real women and small furry creatures from Alpha Centauri were real small furry creatures from Alpha Centauri.”


― Douglas Adams, The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy

[bigredmechanism]

Originally Posted by Slyder

Breaking news, Jersey Shore Stars set foot on the planet and said its great for their tans. A shade beyond Oompa Loompa Orange has been discovered!

Anything to get those clowns off of my tv is welcome. Let Alpha Centauri deal with that mess.

I always like reading about newly discovered planets. For a few sentences there is always some serious intrigue about whether life could be sustained there, or if we could go there. Unfortunately this one doesn't seem like a candidate, but it never ceases to intrigue me.

[Caveat Emperor]

The bigger issue with this is that, according to most recent discoveries, when you find 1 planet you usually find a few. There'll be more attention paid to the star now -- who knows what discovery this will lead to.

[dougdirt]

Originally Posted by Caveat Emperor

The bigger issue with this is that, according to most recent discoveries, when you find 1 planet you usually find a few. There'll be more attention paid to the star now -- who knows what discovery this will lead to.

[texasdave]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-20249753

Astronomers have spotted another candidate for a potentially habitable planet - and it is not too far away.The star HD 40307 was known to host three planets, all of them too near to support liquid water.But research to appear in Astronomy and Astrophysics has found three more - among them a "super-Earth" seven times our planet's mass, in the habitable zone where liquid water can exist.Many more observations will be needed to confirm any other similarities.

[Chip R]

It's only 42 light years away. That would take us only 189,000 years to get there.

[dougdirt]

Originally Posted by Chip R

It's only 42 light years away. That would take us only 189,000 years to get there.

Yeah, with current technology known to man. Something that exists can get their much quicker. I just don't know what it was.

[Boston Red]

Isn't the sun the nearest star to Earth?

[dougdirt]

Originally Posted by Boston Red

Isn't the sun the nearest star to Earth?

Semantics.

[texasdave]

Originally Posted by dougdirt

Yeah, with current technology known to man. Something that exists can get their much quicker. I just don't know what it was.

An Aroldis Chapman fastball.

[RBA]

At warp speed 5, we should get there in roughly 12.5 days. What are we waiting for? An open invitation?

[medford]

OK, so how exactly do I embedd a YT clip? Been trying and keep messing up somehow, so I'm missing something.

[texasdave]

Originally Posted by medford

OK, so how exactly do I embedd a YT clip? Been trying and keep messing up somehow, so I'm missing something.

Don't you just copy and past the link and it automatically embeds itself?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ygE01sOhzz0