Principled Man Posted April 18, 2014 Share Posted April 18, 2014 The Kepler Space Telescope has found the first Earth-sized planet orbiting another star in its "habitable zone". The planet, named Kepler 186-f, is at a distance where liquid water could exist on the planet's surface. There are other Earth-sized planets orbiting the star, but they are so close to it that they are way too hot for life as we know it to survive. Astronomers do not yet know if 186-f has any water or even an atmosphere, but the discovery of the planet is a huge breakthrough. Kepler 186-f's sun is a red dwarf, which is the most common type of star in the Milky Way Galaxy (70%). This tells us that there could be many millions if not billions of Earth-sized planets orbiting other red dwarf stars throughout the galaxy. :haz: :haz: :haz: An artist's depiction of the planet and its system: http://www.nasa.gov/sites/default/files/styles/673xvariable_height/public/kepler186f_artistconcept_0.jpg http://www.nasa.gov/ames/kepler/nasas-kepler-discovers-first-earth-size-planet-in-the-habitable-zone-of-another-star/index.html#.U1DxcvldXEc http://kepler.nasa.gov 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
x1yyz Posted April 18, 2014 Share Posted April 18, 2014 In the constellation of Cygnus, there lurks a visible force, the habitable planet of Kepler 186-f. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LyndseyG Posted April 19, 2014 Share Posted April 19, 2014 That is very cool!! :sundog: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aikenrooster Posted April 19, 2014 Share Posted April 19, 2014 Too bad it's only 500 light years away. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Babycat Posted April 19, 2014 Share Posted April 19, 2014 Too bad it's only 500 light years away.500 light years sounds very far away. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
laughedatbytime Posted April 19, 2014 Share Posted April 19, 2014 Too bad it's only 500 light years away.500 light years sounds very far away.In cosmic terms, that's right next door. Seeing one of these planets that's that close means that life elsewhere in the universe is virtually certain.... 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Principled Man Posted April 19, 2014 Author Share Posted April 19, 2014 (edited) Too bad it's only 500 light years away. 500 light years sounds very far away. Using our fastest space probe speed (36,000 MPH)......500 light-years = 29,800,000,000,000,000 miles / 36,000 MPH = 80.5 billion hours = 9.2 million years to get there..... :dweez: :dweez: Even if we could travel at 1,000 times the speed of light, it would still take SIX MONTHS to get there.... Edited April 19, 2014 by Principled Man 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
x1yyz Posted April 19, 2014 Share Posted April 19, 2014 Using our fastest space probe speed (36,000 MPH)......500 light-years = 29,800,000,000,000,000 miles / 36,000 MPH = 80.5 billion hours = 9.2 million years to get there..... :dweez: :dweez: Even if we could travel at 1,000 times the speed of light, it would still take SIX MONTHS to get there.... Or we can just spool up the FTL drive and get there in minutes. ;) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EagleMoon Posted April 19, 2014 Share Posted April 19, 2014 Where's Captain Picard when you need him? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Johnny Gilbert Posted April 19, 2014 Share Posted April 19, 2014 Fire up the Rocinante! 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Principled Man Posted April 20, 2014 Author Share Posted April 20, 2014 Where's Captain Picard when you need him? He's doing the usual.....sipping his Earl Grey and trying to get Crusher into his "Ready Room"...... 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EagleMoon Posted April 20, 2014 Share Posted April 20, 2014 Where's Captain Picard when you need him? He's doing the usual.....sipping his Earl Grey and trying to get Crusher into his "Ready Room"...... Yeah for what, breakfast? That's one thing that always cracked me up on the series. They've had the hots for each other for how long? And yet all they can do when they have some free time is to eat breakfast. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aikenrooster Posted April 20, 2014 Share Posted April 20, 2014 Too bad it's only 500 light years away. 500 light years sounds very far away. Using our fastest space probe speed (36,000 MPH)......500 light-years = 29,800,000,000,000,000 miles / 36,000 MPH = 80.5 billion hours = 9.2 million years to get there..... :dweez: :dweez: Even if we could travel at 1,000 times the speed of light, it would still take SIX MONTHS to get there.... Look, I'm not very good at this, but wouldn't it actually take longer than that? We're observing the planet at 500 light years away. It's actually moved farther away, at an accelerated rate, and even if we launched today, we'd still be chasing it, right? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
laughedatbytime Posted April 20, 2014 Share Posted April 20, 2014 Too bad it's only 500 light years away. 500 light years sounds very far away. Using our fastest space probe speed (36,000 MPH)......500 light-years = 29,800,000,000,000,000 miles / 36,000 MPH = 80.5 billion hours = 9.2 million years to get there..... :dweez: :dweez: Even if we could travel at 1,000 times the speed of light, it would still take SIX MONTHS to get there.... Look, I'm not very good at this, but wouldn't it actually take longer than that? We're observing the planet at 500 light years away. It's actually moved farther away, at an accelerated rate, and even if we launched today, we'd still be chasing it, right?Bah, we could get there today (since it's Sunday)...just tell John McCain meet the Press is being broadcast from there and he'll be there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Principled Man Posted April 20, 2014 Author Share Posted April 20, 2014 Too bad it's only 500 light years away. 500 light years sounds very far away. Using our fastest space probe speed (36,000 MPH)......500 light-years = 29,800,000,000,000,000 miles / 36,000 MPH = 80.5 billion hours = 9.2 million years to get there..... :dweez: :dweez: Even if we could travel at 1,000 times the speed of light, it would still take SIX MONTHS to get there.... Look, I'm not very good at this, but wouldn't it actually take longer than that? We're observing the planet at 500 light years away. It's actually moved farther away, at an accelerated rate, and even if we launched today, we'd still be chasing it, right? Well, as we all know, the stars in our galaxy are orbiting the galactic center, so they are all in motion. Our star orbits the galactic center, but it is also moving towards the star Vega, in the constellation of Lyra. Kepler-186 is in the neighboring constellation of Cygnus. Our star and Kepler-186 most probably have different orbital speeds, so we are either getting nearer to it or farther away. We're seeing Kepler-186 as it was 500 years ago. In real time, at this moment, it is either a bit closer to us or farther away from us. But then, when we're travelling at 1,000 times the speed of light, any extra distance would be irrelevant. Stars still crawl around the galactic center. Our star takes over 1,190 years just to travel one light-year.... :o Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aikenrooster Posted April 20, 2014 Share Posted April 20, 2014 How are we going to travel 1000 times faster than the speed of light? I missed that part.Lol. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Babycat Posted April 20, 2014 Share Posted April 20, 2014 Where's Captain Picard when you need him? He's doing the usual.....sipping his Earl Grey and trying to get Crusher into his "Ready Room"...... Engage! Or should that be Make It So? :D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Babycat Posted April 20, 2014 Share Posted April 20, 2014 Too bad it's only 500 light years away. 500 light years sounds very far away. Using our fastest space probe speed (36,000 MPH)......500 light-years = 29,800,000,000,000,000 miles / 36,000 MPH = 80.5 billion hours = 9.2 million years to get there..... :dweez: :dweez: Even if we could travel at 1,000 times the speed of light, it would still take SIX MONTHS to get there.... Look, I'm not very good at this, but wouldn't it actually take longer than that? We're observing the planet at 500 light years away. It's actually moved farther away, at an accelerated rate, and even if we launched today, we'd still be chasing it, right? Well, as we all know, the stars in our galaxy are orbiting the galactic center, so they are all in motion. Our star orbits the galactic center, but it is also moving towards the star Vega, in the constellation of Lyra. Kepler-186 is in the neighboring constellation of Cygnus. Our star and Kepler-186 most probably have different orbital speeds, so we are either getting nearer to it or farther away. We're seeing Kepler-186 as it was 500 years ago. In real time, at this moment, it is either a bit closer to us or farther away from us. But then, when we're travelling at 1,000 times the speed of light, any extra distance would be irrelevant. Stars still crawl around the galactic center. Our star takes over 1,190 years just to travel one light-year.... :o What a very long time..! :o Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Principled Man Posted April 20, 2014 Author Share Posted April 20, 2014 How are we going to travel 1000 times faster than the speed of light? I missed that part.Lol. Don't ya know that these threads always start with facts and then branch off into Star Trek fiction? :laughing guy: :laughing guy: 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
treeduck Posted April 29, 2014 Share Posted April 29, 2014 The Kepler Space Telescope has found the first Earth-sized planet orbiting another star in its "habitable zone". The planet, named Kepler 186-f, is at a distance where liquid water could exist on the planet's surface. There are other Earth-sized planets orbiting the star, but they are so close to it that they are way too hot for life as we know it to survive. Astronomers do not yet know if 186-f has any water or even an atmosphere, but the discovery of the planet is a huge breakthrough. Kepler 186-f's sun is a red dwarf, which is the most common type of star in the Milky Way Galaxy (70%). This tells us that there could be many millions if not billions of Earth-sized planets orbiting other red dwarf stars throughout the galaxy. :haz: :haz: :haz: An artist's depiction of the planet and its system: http://www.nasa.gov/sites/default/files/styles/673xvariable_height/public/kepler186f_artistconcept_0.jpg http://www.nasa.gov/...ml#.U1DxcvldXEc http://kepler.nasa.gov Nice! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Del_Duio Posted April 30, 2014 Share Posted April 30, 2014 Too bad it's only 500 light years away. We better start walking now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Principled Man Posted April 30, 2014 Author Share Posted April 30, 2014 Too bad it's only 500 light years away. We better start walking now. On the Bifrost...??? http://i47.servimg.com/u/f47/12/57/63/76/bifros11.jpg Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alsgalpal Posted May 6, 2014 Share Posted May 6, 2014 Too bad it's only 500 light years away.500 light years sounds very far away.In cosmic terms, that's right next door. Seeing one of these planets that's that close means that life elsewhere in the universe is virtually certain.... Why not? We're here! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now