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Star To Be Investigated For Alien Life
Ananova ^
| 10-8-2003
Posted on 10/08/2003 3:29:18 PM PDT by blam
Star to be investigated for alien life
Astronomers say a star called 37 Gem offers the best chance of finding alien life.
The star, a little hotter and brighter than the sun, is on a list of 30 to be investigated by a future generation of life-seeking telescopes.
Situated a relatively close 42 light years away, it is the 37th brightest star in the constellation of Gemini.
Scientists are looking for targets for the Terrestrial Planet Finder and Darwin telescopes planned by Nasa and the European Space Agency.
Both are due to be launched in about 10 years and will be capable of finding habitable planets outside the Solar System.
Astrobiologist Maggie Turnbull, from the University of Arizona in Tucson, USA, compiled a set of criteria for choosing which stars to observe.
These included the amount of heavy metals present when a star formed and its age.
Young stars emitting bright X-rays were excluded, as were small "double" stars.
Turnbull narrowed the 5,000 or so stars within 100 light years of Earth to a shortlist of 30 and presented the list to scientists from TPF and Darwin, New Scientist magazine reported.
Her favourite was 37 Gem because it most closely resembled our sun.
"The closer we look, the more we realise how most other stars are different from the sun," she said.
Story filed: 19:09 Wednesday 8th October 2003
TOPICS: Culture/Society; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: alien; crevolist; for; investigated; life; star
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To: RightWhale
Thanks. That really is amazing. Thankyou very kindly.
To: longshadow
Okay thanks. Where does the hydrogen and helium come from? I do know their gases (I have some sense!)
To: blam
Life-forms! (dootle oot doot doot....)
You tiny little Life-forms! (dootle oot doot doot....)
You precious little Life-forms! (dootle oot doot doot....)
Where are you?... (dootle oot doot doot doot doot!)
23
posted on
10/08/2003 5:03:27 PM PDT
by
Woahhs
To: longshadow
From the article:
Turnbull narrowed the 5,000 or so stars within 100 light years of Earth to a shortlist of 30 and presented the list to scientists ... That's a lot of stars. And we're located in one of the spiral arms, thinly populated with stars. There would seem to be enough stars "nearby" that we could stay busy for generations just sending out probes. As soon as we can propel them at an appreciable percentage of lightspeed. A mere 10% of lightspeed will be okay. We'd start getting an informational payback rather quickly.
24
posted on
10/08/2003 5:03:35 PM PDT
by
PatrickHenry
(Everything good that I have done, I have done at the command of my voices.)
To: JethroHathAWay
Where does the hydrogen and helium come from? I do know their gases (I have some sense!) All of the hydrogen, and some of the helium are primordial: they condense out of the sub-atomic particles that originate cooling expansion of the very early Universe. Some helium is also made in the course of hydrogen fusion that takes place in stars.
To: blam
Situated a relatively close 42 light years away Just vote for Weasley Clark - once he figures out how to go faster than the speed of light, we can just fly there in a few days.
To: PatrickHenry
A mere 10% of lightspeed will be okay. We'd start getting an informational payback rather quickly. Think about it: at 0.1c average velocity, it takes a 1000 years for the probe to just get to a star 100 light years away, and it takes another 100 years for the data to get back to earth via radio signal. Stars 10 light years away would take 110 years to get data back to earth.
Maybe your definition of "rather quickly" is more generous than mine.....
;-)
To: Mannaggia l'America
once he figures out how to go faster than the speed of light, we can just fly there in a few days. Perhaps we could even get there before we left???
28
posted on
10/08/2003 5:11:28 PM PDT
by
Bitman
To: longshadow
Maybe your definition of "rather quickly" is more generous than mine..... The data transmission should be continuous. (Let the engineers worry about the power source; I'm a philosopher, and way above that sort of thing.) So every year we'll be getting better pics than ever before. Long before the probe actually arrives, we'll be awash in great data.
29
posted on
10/08/2003 5:14:32 PM PDT
by
PatrickHenry
(Everything good that I have done, I have done at the command of my voices.)
To: Mustang
As to ones' soul, that's a question to be answered when we shed this coil. If we're alone in the universe, it sure is a waste of space.well, the Earth is a waste of matter. It's eight thousand miles in diameter and we only use the surface.
30
posted on
10/08/2003 5:17:02 PM PDT
by
JoeSchem
To: longshadow
I know that you must be familiar with the Big Bang. I read something a while ago about black holes emitting matter out the opposite side. (Sorry, does that make sense?) Would the Big Bang be like a black hole?
To: JoeSchem
Well, all that nickel and iron at the core keeps the juices flowing the right way...
32
posted on
10/08/2003 5:20:02 PM PDT
by
inquest
("Where else do gun owners have to go?" - Lee Atwater)
To: Bitman
There was a young lady named bright
Whose speed was much faster than light
She went out one day
in a relative way
and returned the previous night
To: longshadow
34
posted on
10/08/2003 5:37:31 PM PDT
by
PatrickHenry
(Everything good that I have done, I have done at the command of my voices.)
To: Mannaggia l'America
Clark and Hillary: Lightspeed and Thunderthighs.
35
posted on
10/08/2003 5:50:32 PM PDT
by
js1138
To: blam
sounds like a job for the U.S.S. Enterprise.
36
posted on
10/08/2003 5:53:10 PM PDT
by
isom35
To: js1138
The first truly alien life we discover, even if it's nothing more than a microbe, it will be one of the most momentous events in human history. Think of the philosophical and religious debates that will rage on the talk shows, and in print (provided we still have print). Imagine the reactions of groups like Earth First and PETA, or even the mainstream churches.
37
posted on
10/08/2003 6:00:50 PM PDT
by
Junior
(Killed a six pack ... just to watch it die.)
To: JethroHathAWay
Hydrogen is simply a proton and an electron, and is the simplest possible atom. Protons and electrons naturally attract one another, but protons will repel other protons and electrons will repel other electrons.
Helium is the first product of fusion, so I believe it is also the product of the stellar furnace.
38
posted on
10/08/2003 6:08:59 PM PDT
by
Junior
(Killed a six pack ... just to watch it die.)
To: blam
The star, a little hotter and brighter than the sun,
they'd better be wearing thermo-nuclear sunglasses or go at night.....
If there ain't no life on our sun, how the heck can they expect life to be on that other one?
39
posted on
10/08/2003 6:14:27 PM PDT
by
Hot Tabasco
(After 30 years of dealing with stupid people and I still don't have the right to just shoot them...)
To: Junior
Thankyou. I sruggled with highschool chemistry and never fully recovered due to an illness.
Concerning your other post above; I thought they found a meteor during the Clinton administration with microdes on it, from Mars. Was that ever proven to be for real? Thankyuo
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