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Ravenna

Ravenna

TNPer
Most Earth-like Exoplanet Discovery Explained (Infographic)

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The rest of the original SPACE.com article can be found here: http://www.space.com/19204-most-earth-like-exoplanet-explained-infographic.html



17 Billion Earths of the Milky Way Explained (Infographic)

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The rest of the original SPACE.com article can be found here: http://www.space.com/19160-alien-earth-size-planets-population-infographic.html



'Habitable Zone' for Alien Planets, and Possibly Life, Redefined

One of the most important characteristics of an alien planet is whether or not it falls into what's called the habitable zone ­— a Goldilocks-like range of not-too-close, not-too-far distances from the parent star that might allow the planet to host life.

Now scientists have redefined the boundaries of the habitable zone for alien planets, potentially kicking out some exoplanaets that were thought to fall within it, and maybe allowing a few that had been excluded to squeeze in.

"This will have a significant impact on the number of exoplanets that are within habitable zone," said research team leader Ravi Kumar Kopparapu of Penn State University.

The rest of the original SPACE.com article can be found here: http://www.space.com/19522-alien-planet-habitable-zone-definition.html



Alien Moons May Be Easier to Photograph Than Planets

Scientists looking for habitable worlds to photograph could have better luck searching for moons than for alien planets, scientists say. A moon heated by the pull of its parent planet could be visible even when the planet is hidden from view.

Powered by gravitational tugging from a planet, these exomoons would remain bright throughout their lifetimes, not just in their youth. This means stars of various ages could be hosting planets with photogenic moons.

The rest of the original SPACE.com article can be found here: http://www.space.com/19610-exomoons-alien-planets-photography.html
 
Good article. I have no doubt there are thousands of Earth-like planets in our own galaxy alone.

Nice to see an astronomy thread in here as it is a hobby of mine. Lovely evening here in the UK so I will take my telescope out in an hour or so - Saturn is looking fantastic at the moment!
 
Can you imagine the life-forms that would develop in such a heavy gravity planet (compared to earth)?

Let's see, the Earth has a volume of about 260,711,886,824 cubic miles...

The super-Earth has a volume of 882,347,202,123 cubic miles...

Earth = 2.6 x 10 ^ 11 cubic miles...

Super Earth = 8.8 x 10 ^ 11 miles...

Which means that the Super Earth has about 3.4 times the mass of Earth, assuming the composition of the planets is the same.

Which would mean, and I forget the exact calculations for it, that the average person would weigh so much on Super Earth that they would have to untie their shoes to eat a hamburger. :P

Then, one has to consider if Super Earth has an active magnetic field to protect it from solar radiation the lack of which results in planets like Mars and Venus.

But given the infinite size of the universe, I'd be surprised if there weren't a really big number of planets nearly identical to Earth that exist or existed at one time or another.

I look at it this way, if humans are the best the the Universe can do, the Universe is fucked!
 
Romanoffia:
I look at it this way, if humans are the best the the Universe can do, the Universe is fucked!
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Very good way of putting it, Roman! :lol:

If we are the best the universe has done in 13.7 billion years then it ain't doing a very good job! :P
 
Wilkshire:
Romanoffia:
I look at it this way, if humans are the best the the Universe can do, the Universe is fucked!
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Very good way of putting it, Roman! :lol:

If we are the best the universe has done in 13.7 billion years then it ain't doing a very good job! :P
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Funny you should mention the age of the Universe as being 13.5 billion years. I had an interesting conversation with a physicist a couple of weeks ago and I think I inflicted a major case of 'existential angst' on his sorry ass.

I said to him, "What makes you think the Universe is only 13.5 billion years old? He then babbled on about the 'event horizon' and how we can't find anything older than 13.5 billion years. I then said to him, "well, no proof of anything older can be considered proof of non-existance", to which he conceded.

I then hit him with the another goody: "What makes you think that the Big Bang actually happened? I mean, what if the Big Bang that we think we see wasn't a local phenomenon? And, for that matter, what makes you think that the Universe is finite either in size or existence?"

He then replied, "well, everything has to have a beginning and an end, even the Universe".

I said, "you're projecting. You're projecting the finite nature of your existence onto the universe. For all you know, the Universe is literally infinite, and has always existed and always will exist and exists in a constant state where matter is recycled via black holes and other phenomena".

He sais, "but such a closed system would eventually wind down!"

I said, "But if the Universe is infinite and has existed always and always will exist, then the system would not be closed in terms of function. It would be closed but if the Universe is infinite in all dimensions, then there would never be a lack of energy to keep the universe going".

He said, "But the universe has to be finite with a beginning and an end!"

I said, "you're projecting again".

He walked away with a very disquieted look on his face. :fish:


The point being that the so-called rules of physics we operate by are human constructs to explain observed data in a statistical sense and are not absolute. In other words, "reality" comprises of objective conclusions based upon objective observations of a physical Universe that we cannot directly observe other than through our rather small palate of senses. And man being the measure of all things, we tend to project our finite existence upon everything in the Universe and to the Universe (something we have no real clue what it really is) as a whole.

What I mean is that we only see a construct of physical reality which construct only exists inside our brains. We never actually have any real perception of 'experiencing' the universe at all other than what exists inside our brains. It's like being a near-sighted bug that lives on the surface of a pond - we only experience the surface of the pond without knowing what is above the surface nor below the surface, or, for that matter, that we are even on a pond or what a pond even is.

And it's discussions like this that makes most people very reluctant to get drunk or stoned around me. :lol:
 
On a similar point regarding the age of the universe, I remember reading somewhere a while ago that one of the moon rocks brought back by the Apollo astronauts had been dated at 5.3 billion years (older than the supposed age of our solar system - 4.6 billion years) and that one of them had been dated at an incredible 20 billion years!

As for your comment about the Big Bang possibly being a local event, I can vaguely remember someone mentioning this in the past - about it being caused by the collapse of a lot of super-massive black holes and that the universe predates the big bang by a long time. Certainly food for thought.
 
I came up with a theory years ago of 'reverse' black holes - that is, points in the Universe where matter is literally pouring in. This can be illustrated by the last dying phases of most stars. Stars generally contract and their mass increases. Where is this additional mass (totally disproportionate to any additional mass that might fall into it) come from? If the star gains sufficient mass, it goes nova. If it gains a really large amount of mass, it goes black hole.

If this additional mass is coming through a 'wormhole', per se, from another part of the Universe, it would indicate a closed but infinite systems. If not, it might indicate a finite universe in terms of mass/energy and an interplay between multiple universes, a 'multiverse', as it were.

I figure that one day some physicist will suddenly announce, "Holy shit! I've figured out the ultimate secret of the Universe!" and promptly croak before he can tell anyone what it is. That would be typical.
 
You have some amazing insight, Romanoffia. I would enjoy getting drunk or stoned with you. :)
 
Romanoffia:
I figure that one day some physicist will suddenly announce, "Holy shit! I've figured out the ultimate secret of the Universe!" and promptly croak before he can tell anyone what it is. That would be typical.
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That's almost what happened to Jean Francois Champollion, the French guy who cracked the then undecipherable ancient Egyptian hieroglyphics by using the Rosetta Stone. He was like "Putain de merde! I've done it!" and then almost immediately had a stroke and was bedridden for days.
 
Ash:
You have some amazing insight, Romanoffia. I would enjoy getting drunk or stoned with you. :)
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Hehe - we should set up an IRC channel for the purpose. Call it "#StonedTNP". And then publish the cleaned up conversations in a "TNP Philosophical Society Thread" :lol:


Blue Wolf II:
Romanoffia:
I figure that one day some physicist will suddenly announce, "Holy shit! I've figured out the ultimate secret of the Universe!" and promptly croak before he can tell anyone what it is. That would be typical.
Click to expand...
That's almost what happened to Jean Francois Champollion, the French guy who cracked the then undecipherable ancient Egyptian hieroglyphics by using the Rosetta Stone. He was like "Putain de merde! I've done it!" and then almost immediately had a stroke and was bedridden for days.
Click to expand...

Putain de merde? Would that not translate to a fart that one thought was a fart but turned out to be a crap instead? (Pardon my French :lol: :P )

But yes, that is a typically normal course of events. One discovers something totally world shaking and then is rendered incapable of transmitting that knowledge to anyone.
 
Romanoffia:
Ash:
You have some amazing insight, Romanoffia. I would enjoy getting drunk or stoned with you. :)
Click to expand...

Hehe - we should set up an IRC channel for the purpose. Call it "#StonedTNP". And then publish the cleaned up conversations in a "TNP Philosophical Society Thread" :lol:
Click to expand...
:agree: That would be fun! I need a good excuse to get on IRC more.
 
Ash:
Romanoffia:
Ash:
You have some amazing insight, Romanoffia. I would enjoy getting drunk or stoned with you. :)
Click to expand...

Hehe - we should set up an IRC channel for the purpose. Call it "#StonedTNP". And then publish the cleaned up conversations in a "TNP Philosophical Society Thread" :lol:
Click to expand...
:agree: That would be fun! I need a good excuse to get on IRC more.
Click to expand...
The official bar of The TNP Philosophical Society: The Philosopher's Stoned :P
 
Barging in on a forum that doesn't involve me but hey.

Love the whole planet hunting thing. Think they are still sifting through the data from Kepler. I reckon they will find good candidates for habitable worlds and then do an atmospheric lensing experiment and find life suggesting vapours!

Anyone see the story about the supernova currently (or 12 million years ago) blazing outside a local galaxy completely outshining it. Awesome: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-25860454
 
*resurrects this lovely thread*

The Biggest Astronomy Stories of 2014

The year 2014 was a packed one for astronomical science.

Over the last 12 months, scientists made historic progress in the study of Mars, had two close encounters with comets, and may have found hints of dark matter and signals from the Big Bang.
It's enough to make us eager for 2015 to see what new discoveries await.

But there are some stories that stand out from the crowd that was space science in 2014. Here is our list of the biggest astronomy stories of the year.

The rest of the original SPACE.com article can be found here: http://www.space.com/28062-best-astronomy-stories-2014.html
 
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