Posted on 08/25/2010 9:58:27 PM PDT by Nachum
A solar system containing up to seven planets orbiting a sun-like star has been detected 127 light years from Earth.
The planetary system is believed to be the largest ever discovered beyond the sun.
Astronomers have confirmed the presence of five planets and have tantalising evidence of two more.
And it comes as Nasa has said that it plans to make an announcement about an 'intriguing' planetary system that it has discovered using the Kepler space telescope Kepler looks at the telltale 'wobble' as planets pass in front of distant stars and, earlier this year, astronomers announced that it had discovered more than 700 possible planets. The conference is scheduled for 1pm EDT (6pm BST).
(Excerpt) Read more at dailymail.co.uk ...
Just over the back fence, really.
Can we tax it?
I beleive there’s life across this galaxy. I also believe the intelligent life won’t save us from Barack Obama.
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This is just the tip of a galactic sized iceberg.
Wow, what wonderful news. There might be life out there after all!
What great timing for an historic anouncement, just about the time that their budget was going to have a huge $ cutback.
Amazing find, amazing fund!
Sounds like a Klingon system to me.
Worf! You don’t eat the napkins.
Klingons around Uranus?
Sure! Just as soon as we can trick ‘em into passing a 16th-like Amendment.
Aw, jeez, not another Ken Mehlman thread.
Probably George Carlin.
That said, how long would it take to get there?
Roughly.
Because either I have to go, or about 3 million other earthlings have to go. It’s them or me :)
LOL
It appears that these ‘visitors’ have been visiting for centuries, millenia perhaps! Could it be that they are waiting until we develop some societal system similar to their own before they make official contact? ... Think about it: we humans aren’t likely to go ‘hive style’, so what if that is the system the visitors use? What religious or societal systems approach a hive mentality in our day? ... Islam anyone?
A new place for the ground zero mosque.
“Can we tax it?”
I believe the answer is YES, if it moves.
The "back fence" would be the heliopause at about 100 AU or 800 light-minutes. That's barely half a light-day, so I think 127 light-years is way past the back fence.
Let’s discover carbon based life! Let’s send some astronauts there! Let’s see for how long their immune systems can protect them against the myriad of pathogens humans have have never been exposed to nor have protection against.
Recently I heard a professional commentator say on this subject that we would be arrogant to presume that we are the only life in the universe. However, why is it not more arrogant to believe that other life in the universe would be identical to us, in terms of how we define life, such as carbon based and water dependent? We do we keep looking only for planets like our own just so we can find life as we want to difine it? Who’s is to say that life is not the magnetosphere, or a commit is not a form of life, or a photon? Who is to say which creatures in heaven on earth are deemed to be called life? Is that not the real definition of arrogance?
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