Posted on 01/05/2014 7:42:47 PM PST by lbryce
The artist's conception depicts Kepler-62f,a super-Earth-size planet in the habitable zone of a star smaller
and cooler than the sun, located about 1,200 light-years from Earth in the constellation Lyra. The small
shining object seen to the right of Kepler-62f is Kepler-62e.
Kepler-62f is a remarkably Earth-like planet about 1,200 light-years from our planet. The world is only 1.4 times bigger than Earth and is in orbit around a star that is somewhat dimmer and smaller than the sun. It orbits in what is believed to be the habitable region of its star.
The planet was announced in 2013 as part of a larger bonanza of seven exoplanets announced around the stars Kepler-62 and Kepler-69. Another notable discovery at the same time was Kepler-62e, which is also close to Earth's size (at 1.6 times the radius) and in the habitable zone.
Separately, a modeling study of Kepler-62e and Kepler-62f suggested that the planets would likely be engulfed in water, which could lead to life that is very different than our own.
"There may be life there, but could it be technology-based like ours? Life on these worlds would be under water with no easy access to metals, to electricity, or fire for metallurgy," modeling lead author Lisa Kaltenegger, of the Max Planck Institute for Astronomy and the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, said in a statement in 2013.
"Nonetheless, these worlds will still be beautiful blue planets circling an orange star — and maybe life’s inventiveness to get to a technology stage will surprise us," she added.
This diagram compares the planets of the inner solar system to Kepler-62, a five-planet system about 1,200 light-years from Earth in the constellation Lyra. The five planets of Kepler-62 orbit a star classified as a K2 dwarf, measuring just two thirds the size of the sun and only one fifth as bright.
Discovered by Space Telescope
Kepler-62f was discovered using the Kepler space telescope, an observatory that discovered thousands of exoplanet candidates before it ceased its primary mission in 2013. (As of late that year, NASA was evaluating new missions for the telescope, which was in an extended mission and now has two malfunctioning reaction wheels originally intended to keep it pointed in the right direction.) [Infographic: NASA's Planet-Hunting Kepler Telescope Explained]
The planet makes a complete circle of its red dwarf star every 267 days and orbits at about the equivalent distance of Venus to the sun in our own solar system. Although this puts the planet far closer to its star than Earth is to the sun, the red dwarf does not produce as much light. This means that the region around the star where planets could have liquid water is much closer than that of our own solar system.
Kepler-62f, however, is the farthest known planet in its system and may require quite a bit of cloud to insulate the planet and keep water above freezing. If that were the case, water would likely be there in abundance. Researchers pointed out that life on Earth itself was believed to have started in an aquatic environment.
"Look at our own ocean — it is just absolutely full of life," said Bill Borucki of NASA's Ames Research Center in Moffett Field, Calif., leader of the team that discovered the two exoplanets, in 2013. "We think, in fact, life [on Earth] might have begun there."
The key to a more advanced civilization, however, may lie in pockets of dry land. Technology (as we would understand it, at least) would be difficult to develop unless any alien creatures could work out of the water.
"We might not have gotten off four legs" if humanity's predecessors came to be on Kepler-62e or Kepler-62f, Borucki added in the interview. He said a human that somehow found him or herself on the Kepler-62f would have no trouble walking around, as the gravity is gentle.
Breathing, however, would be another matter. The soupy atmosphere of Kepler-62f could prove difficult for humans to breathe, unless they were to come with special equipment, researchers pointed out.
"If you want to write a science-fiction story, and you land on both [62e and 62f], at least be sure that on f you don't want to take your mask thingy off," Kaltenegger said.
macro evolution refutes the Bible (i.e., Genesis) by definition.
It’s just a fantasy to ever think we could manage to seek out new life, new civilizations when you can hardly get there at least in less than a century or two with present technology.
With a decent sized snow storm it’s can be hard to get to Walmart..
And these guys to want to travel a zillion miles to get to who knows what?..
Probably run out of toilet paper first..
Next!..
Nonsense. It depends upon your temporal frame of reference. From God’s position (at the Big Bang beginning) until our epoch is less than seven days, if the frame of temporal reference uses the doubling of the size of spacetime as an ‘each day’. Marco evolution would be only brief moments in such a day, mere blinks of God’s eye.
if intelligent beings from “outer space” ever contact me (i know they’ve already contacted many others by all reports ;)), i wouldn’t be surprised to find that out at all. of course, angels kinda foot that bill already.
Century or two?
If only it were that short....
there’s no doubt God created time (and is therefore is it’s Master) along with with the universe (space, matter/energy).
I’ll bite though, why don’t you quote me a verse in Genesis where God deploys natural selection to aid in His creation. I’ll be happy to look it up.
Luminosity != total energy output. More of Kepler 62’s output is in the infrared range. Also, the planet is stated as being located in that star’s “habitable zone” which means the amount of energy those planets get is enough to allow liquid water, and their apparent size means enough atmosphere to keep it from freezing.
I’ve never tought of it that way but it is absolutely true. Very interesting point.
What I said was that even if somehow we discovered a planet that was Earth-like and seemed capable of harboring life, what would you do then? Hop into your starship, demand Scotty to fire up the warp engines and ask him to give it all she's got?
Even merely only sending a message that would travel at the speed of light at the incomprehensible rate of 186,000 miles per second, it would still take at least a quarter century to send a message, hope they were able to intercept it, understand it, embrace the reality of our existence, unravel the language, cultural barriers, and supposing they even gave a damm to be curious, bother about us, to send a return message, hoping we intercept, interpret it, all of which would take decades.
That's the kind of fantasy turned reality that I just don't have the emotional, existential resources, mindset to commit to on a such a long-term century-based time frame.
Thank you.I’m too much of a Star Trek:The Original Series fan to make an unqualified statement as to put a limit on Mankind’s imagination, capabilities regarding what the future might hold.
More commie, godless, sodomite scientists lying and stealing our money and guns. Down with science!!!
I have a question. Our “space craft” lift off from Florida and go “up” but really they’re going “out”. What would they find if they lifted off from the North Pole and truly went “up”?
I'm trying to make sense out of the question you posted and the only thing I can come up with that would explain the cryptic nature of your post is that you're some sort of secret agent, either for the Federal government, say, the NSA, Homeland Security, etc. or agent for the FSB, successor to the defunct Soviet Union's KGB or lastly perhaps employed by the NKSP, North Korean Secret Police, as undercover agent on a covert mission to infiltrate the Global Pedophilia Network (GPN) gain their confidence, have them reveal their organization, sources of illicit content distributed throughout their secret membership and eventually move your up the organization as Director.
Your status as uncover agent is, unlike that of England's top agent status which is classified as 007, license to kill, your special privileged agent status is classified as BB one and three quarters, license to chill.
I see your cryptic statement as means to making contact with your local support team who would instantly recognize your query about the North Pole launch as password that coneys to them your identity as agent for NKSP and to provide you full tactical, technical support for your reconnaissance mission in the infitration of the GPN. Good Luck.
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Rather than technology based life, I would expect a simpler form of say a hive based civilizations such as those that exist on earth. The insects are able to use their bodies and locally available materials to expand their capabilities.
That is, high degrees of social existence can be established using very primitive adaptations evolving over eons to create very complex habitats and societies. The complexity is such that we humans have not yet learned to break the codes and communicate directly with the complex earthly insect societies.
I understand what you are saying. But I wonder if others are out there, do they have LIBERALS? :-)
If you look at it from a cosmological standpoint, there is a slight difference in travel if one is travelling in the plane of the ecliptic as opposed to travelling at a right angle to same. The reason the vast majority of our spacecraft travel in the plane is because we want them to see 'stuff', i.e., planets, asteroids, or comets. If you are not travelling in the plane, you're going to find a dearth of things to actually study.
That is not to say that there would be no value to such a path. I suspect some day in the distant we'll see a craft launched to map the extent of the solar system's heliosphere (information about this astronomical feature at the link). It might someday be useful to map this region out, but other than that, unless a craft has a specific destination outside of the ecliptic, you'll have better chances to do science within it.
1200 light years away and it can be determined that the entire planet is covered in water so there may not be fire?
C'mon!
What are you talkig about? They’e even managed to make out beach front property and land development in areas near the shores of land masses.
Instead of all the gibberish, answer your own question: “.....what would they find if they lifted off from the South Pole, the very bottom of the Earth, and truly went “down”? That was going to be my second question but I got tired and went to bed. I figured I could wait until morning to find out.
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