Earth-sized rocky planet orbiting a nearby star

phys.org ^ | November 11, 2015 | Provided by: Massachusetts Institute of Technology

[uglybiker]

Oh. So no chance of green alien slave chicks, huh?

[Red Badger]

Until someone invents a way to traverse the stars at a velocity that is at or near the speed of light, we are trapped within our own solar system. Einstein’s speed of light is the speed limit of our universe, unless there is a way around it, and even that is too slow for interstellar travel. Plus the energy required to accelerate even a grain of sand to the ‘speed of light ‘ is enormous beyond comprehension.

Even if we had a ship at this moment that could somehow achieve the speed of light, a small trip to the nearest star, Proxima Centauri, about 4.2 light years away, would be incomprehensible.

The logistics of supporting even one human for that amount of time is staggering, not to mention the ‘Time Dilation’ effect of near or at light speeds. An astronaut that left on a trip to there might never see their family or anyone he ever knew alive again. His ‘time’ would slow down relative to our time, though he would not notice the change. Upon his return to Earth, he would discover that dozens of our years had passed since his departure.

http://www.phy.olemiss.edu/HEP/QuarkNet/time.html

[SunkenCiv]

Thanks Red Badger. Nearby in this case is 39 light years, which is indeed nearby.

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