An artist's rendering shows a planet called Kepler-20e. The surface temperature of Kepler-20e, at more than 1,400 degrees Fahrenheit, would melt glass. [Reuters]
Posted on 02/16/2012 4:22:26 AM PST by SunkenCiv
The search for habitable alien planets will be harder because tidal forces could remove water from planets to leave them dry worlds.
Tidal heating could affect searches for habitable exoplanet, according to researchers from the University of Washington. Strong tidal forces could render planets in the habitable zone unlivable. Tidal heating occurs as orbital and rotational energy is dissipated as heat on the crust of a planet or a moon.
"This has fundamentally changed the concept of a habitable zone," said researcher Rory Barnes, a planetary scientist and astrobiologist at the University of Washington...
A planet could experience tidal heating if it is close to its parent star. Planets that orbit dimmer stars could move into the habitable zone- the zone that is just right for water to exist in its liquid form. However the tidal forces could be enough for the planet to lose all of its water leaving nothing but a dead planet.
This fact is important as scientists search for habitable exoplanets. Astronomers could be fooled into thinking that a planet in the habitable zone still has water when tidal heating has sterilized the planet...
Barnes noted that Jupiter's moon Io experiences the largest amount of tidal heating in the solar system. Io experiences tidal heating 2 watts per square meter on its surface. Astronomers should take tidal heating into account in the search for planets in the habitable zone. Barnes also noted that astronomers should consider how multi-planet systems affect the results of tidal heating...
The team's findings were presented last January 11 at the annual meeting of the American Astronomical Society in Austin, Texas.
(Excerpt) Read more at au.ibtimes.com ...
An artist's rendering shows a planet called Kepler-20e. The surface temperature of Kepler-20e, at more than 1,400 degrees Fahrenheit, would melt glass. [Reuters]
Climate ping. :’)
 |
||
| · join · view topics · view or post blog · bookmark · post new topic · subscribe · | ||
| Google news searches: exoplanet · exosolar · extrasolar · | ||
I guess we’re just stuck here.
Hey, I’m dieting. ;’)
Just give Bammie a kill-switch for gravity...
Here...
...or any other danged planet that fits the Dhimmicrat's daily narrative...
Just get Dingy Harry off his attitude...
VOILA! = problem solved!
I like gravity, it helps keep my feet on the ground. And being a Christian of the “Scriptures only” for truth, I love the Lord God of Israel who created all temporal things by Jesus Christ our Lord and who will burn the whole sin stained universe after the Lord Jesus rules on the earth for a 1000 years and then delivers up the Kingdom to God the Father.
Then the new heavens and new earth comes down from God out of heaven.
Until then, gravity is a good thing.
I would think this is the case only because the primary way of detecting exoplanets at this time is via the gravitational effect they have on the star they're orbiting. They 'tug' on it causing a 'wobble' in the light signal from the star (back and forth redshift-blueshift). Planets with a significant gravitational effect on their star usually get very close to it at some point and/or are very massive. Planets and Moons only experience tidal heating when they are sufficiently close to a star or planet(in the case of moons). Tidal heating is a gravitational effect. In other words, Earth is obviously a habitable planet, yet it isn't massive enough (or close enough to the Sun) to cause much of a wobble of the Sun. Therefore, we can't easily detect Earth-size planets at the Earth-Sun distance or greater using the current techniques, and so many such planets are 'invisible' to us at the moment.
Earth also doesn’t experience much tidal heating from the gravitational effects of the Sun. Most of Earth’s internal heat comes from radioactivity in the core, and, to a much less degree, some leftover heat from the formation process.
Also, the “habitable zone” doesn’t take into consideration those planets with sufficient internal self-producing heating processes (volcanic, etc). Planets starting around Earth’s mass generate their own heat via radioactivity within their core. There are lifeforms that exist on Earth entirely independent of the Sun’s energy/photosynthesis, around undersea volcanic vents, etc.
Gravity: It’s not just a good idea.....it’s the law.
The range of possibilities is pretty vast. Planets in warmer areas of space with multiple stars only a couple light years away. Planets orbiting binary pairs which combine to heat a planet etc.
We're all gonna dry!!
There’s also the photometric measurements of the periodic occultations, and they’re hoping to get some direct imaging with the latest earth-based or orbital telescopes.
If they do get imaging of some exoplanets, they can tell more about their composition; however, the sample size is likely to be small.
All we have to do is figure out how to live somplace where thee is no air and no water and lots of radiation.
:’)
Pretty!
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.
