Searching for New Earths

National Geographic ^ | 12/02/09

[KevinDavis]

It took humans thousands of years to explore our own planet and centuries to comprehend our neighboring planets, but nowadays new worlds are being discovered every week. To date, astronomers have identified more than 370 “exoplanets,” worlds orbiting stars other than the sun. Many are so strange as to confirm the biologist J. B. S. Haldane’s famous remark that “the universe is not only queerer than we suppose, but queerer than we can suppose.” There’s an Icarus-like “hot Saturn” 260 light-years from Earth, whirling around its parent star so rapidly that a year there lasts less than three days. Circling another star 150 light-years out is a scorched “hot Jupiter,” whose upper atmosphere is being blasted off to form a gigantic, comet-like tail. Three benighted planets have been found orbiting a pulsar—the remains of a once mighty star shrunk into a spinning atomic nucleus the size of a city—while untold numbers of worlds have evidently fallen into their suns or been flung out of their systems to become “floaters” that wander in eternal darkness.

[LiberConservative]

As an act of “good faith” I say we send all the Muslims to the first earth-like planet we find. There they can murder and rape and blow up anyone and everyone they wish. The rest of us here on Earth can sleep easier knowing they are having the times of their lives billions of years away from us.

[SunkenCiv]

Thanks KD for the topic and ping, this is a reminder to myself to ping the X-Planets list.

[PIF]

“As an act of “good faith” I say we send all the Muslims to the first earth-like planet we find.”

Why wait? Any planet will do when we have the means - they can even take Mecca with them - we’ll send the rock along later, maybe add some bigger ones... Meanwhile we could just send them to the Sun now and be done with it.

[IronKros]

@sonofstrangelove:
Very interesting. That is something I shall have to keep my eye on.

@LiberConservative:
Why limit it to one religious group. How about we make it inclusive to anyone who uses religion to harm others.

Let's kick off of some of those faith healing parents who watch their children die on the living room floor.

[MWS]

I agree. Maybe through the use of wormholes. Though, I prefer use wormholes to travel interdimensionally.

Er... do you have much experience with that?

[ErnstStavroBlofeld]

Only in theory.

[MWS]

Only in theory.

I know, I just couldn't help myself due to how it was worded.

Don't worry, I'm on the level and act by the square - I liked your profile. ;-)

[SunkenCiv]

Thanks kevindavis.

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[ErnstStavroBlofeld]

Thank you very much for the compliment.

:)

[newguy357]

I don’t know if Kepler will look at Alpha Centauri but I’ve read some scientists theorize that its a prime candidate for small rocky planets.

Conventional wisdom as of ~2003 was that systems would tend to form either binary+ star systems or single star with planets. Since alpha centauri is a multi-star system, it didn't seem a likely place for planets to be in stable (or at least livable) orbit. Of course, that could all be wrong, but that is what the astrophysicists taught me during undergrad, and it seems to make sense from an orbital dynamics perspective.