Posted on 01/11/2013 9:37:59 PM PST by SunkenCiv
Explanation: How common are Earth-sized planets? Quite common, according to extrapolations from new data taken by NASA's orbiting Kepler spacecraft. Current computer models are indicating that at least one in ten stars are orbited by an Earth-sized planet, making our Milky Way Galaxy the home to over ten billion Earths. Unfortunately, this estimate applies only to planets effectively inside the orbit of Mercury, making these hot-Earths poor vacation opportunities for humans. This histogram depicts the estimated fraction of stars that have close orbiting planets of various sizes. The number of Sun-like stars with Earth-like planets in Earth-like orbits is surely much less, but even so, Kepler has also just announced the discovery of four more of those.
(Excerpt) Read more at 129.164.179.22 ...
[Illustration Credit: NASA / Ames / JPL-Caltech]
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If Milky way galaxy (in which our solar system resides) has 10 Billion earth size planets, then it follows that since in the universe there are Billions of galaxies, there are 100,000,000,000,000,000,000 earths out there!
But don’t get your hopes up, aliens from those earths are not going to start a 3rd party here. They are all millions of light years away from us.
FTL ships change the game.
And don't bring up Einstein - he only dealt with speeds approaching lightspeed.
He said nothing about speeds faster than light.
BTW, FTL means they're already here. What, you don't see them landing on the White House lawn? Why should they? Would YOU land on the White House lawn?
Very informative and interesting.
Thanks so much, SunkenCiv!
People that land on the White House lawn get arrested - didn’t you know that? ;-)
“..there are 100,000,000,000,000,000,000 earths out there!”
Yep, and they’re all us...heh heh heh. Another Time and another place...
A planet is not “Earth-like” because it happens to be about the same size as Earth. A planet is Earth-like by being about the same size and the RIGHT DISTANCE from its Star—otherwise it is toast (or an ice cube)....
Until we build our first working warp drive and all the things that are needed to keep humans alive within its space ship, this is all just gas and blather.
I was hoping to live to see it, but I doubt that will happen. Sigh... The 1966 dreams of a teenager who was born too soon.
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