Gliese 581 g

[DeepComet5581]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gliese_581_g

As some of you may know, Scientists have made an important discovery for the future of space travel.

On September 29th, Steven S. Vogt of the Keck Observatory in Hawaii discovered a planet in the Gliese 581 system, part of the Libra constellation (20.5 LY away), that is inside the Goldilocks zone of it's parent star.

The Goldilocks zone is the area around a star where planets of sufficient size can support water and sometimes, life. Gliese 581 g is inside this Goldilocks zone, and the Keck Observatory believe that water may be a strong possibility.

You may say that this is Bullshit, and that this has happened before, but it actually hasn't. This is the only known planet, besides Earth, that is inside it's parent star's Goldilocks zone, which makes the claim a bit more genuine.

The planet itself is 0.146 AU from it's parent star (AU is the standard unit of distance when measuring a planet's distance to it's star compared to Earth. Earth is 1 AU from Sol). This is fairly close, but the star is a Red Dwarf (no puns), much smaller than our Sun.

All the information is in the Wikipedia article.

So, what do the Escapees think? Could this be the first habitable planet, or a vat for intelligent life? Or are we getting our hopes up over nothing?

 

[tomtom94]

It would be a nice fantasy, but very unlikely.

Don't forget though, we are looking at it several years in the past.

 

[razor343]

I Say it's possible that the planet could play a part in te future of humanity...But the problem still stands, we technically still haven't left our solar system...And to get to 'Gliese' we'd have to develop a vehicle capable of travelling at light speed, and even then it would take roughly 20 years to get there so...If anything, we should think of Cryogenic Freezing on a much slower ship, or years of waiting for adequate technology.

 

[Daffy F]

Well, there is definitely a possibility of life, so I guess 'getting our hopes up' wouldn't be too much of a foolish thing to do... But then it is very unlikely to be intelligent life. Keep those fingers crossed though!

 

[DeepComet5581]

I Say it's possible that the planet could play a part in te future of humanity...But the problem still stands, we technically still haven't left our solar system...And to get to 'Gliese' we'd have to develop a vehicle capable of travelling at light speed, and even then it would take roughly 20 years to get there so...If anything, we should think of Cryogenic Freezing on a much slower ship, or years of waiting for adequate technology.

Of course, at the moment the possibility doesn't exist, but there are a lot of scientists who take the writings of Gene Roddenberry seriously, so it may just be possible in 30, 40 years.

 

[razor343]

I Say it's possible that the planet could play a part in te future of humanity...But the problem still stands, we technically still haven't left our solar system...And to get to 'Gliese' we'd have to develop a vehicle capable of travelling at light speed, and even then it would take roughly 20 years to get there so...If anything, we should think of Cryogenic Freezing on a much slower ship, or years of waiting for adequate technology.

Of course, at the moment the possibility doesn't exist, but there are a lot of scientists who take the writings of Gene Roddenberry seriously, so it may just be possible in 30, 40 years.

Heh, well yes Science fiction and the like are closer to reality than we really think, besides, we're basing our current 'research' on elements and resources found on earth, for all we know, there could be a rock on mars that is several times more efficient than fuel, and takes a long time to burn out, So it could be a potential kick-start to proper space travel.

 

[Judgement101]

The planet is 400 degress celcius. Not sure about you guys but I would rather remain on an almost uninhabitable Earth than travel to a Hellscape.

 

[Pegghead]

This is fairly close, but the star is a Red Dwarf (no puns), much smaller than our Sun.

I do not get it, and I feel like I should.

OT: It's a pretty exciting prospect.

 

[Banana Phone Man]

I doubt there is anything out there on that planet, my pessimism knows no bounds. Nice thought to believe in though.

 

[SnipErlite]

Ehh I reckon it might support life. That would be awesome.

Isn't it 20 light years away? I'm thinking 20? So we're seeing it 20 years in the past.

Now, to invent a spaceship that can travel at 0.5c ! Only a 40-year trip

 

[flaming_squirrel]

There's a very good chance of their being some form of life on their, unlikely to be intelligent but on a bacteria level there's certainly going to be something.

Unfortunately the distances involved are somewhat great, what with light-speed travel being physically impossible it'd take a helluva long time to get there.

 

[Cowabungaa]

It would be a nice fantasy, but very unlikely.

Don't forget though, we are looking at it several years in the past.

20 Years is nothing on the geological scale, so there's no need to worry about that.

I wouldn't call it a fantasy either. I mean, in a universe this vast where we've already found plenty of planets, would it really be that odd that there's another one that's habitable for humans?

Now it's just waiting for the techies to come up with a nice way to travel to it.

This is fairly close, but the star is a Red Dwarf (no puns), much smaller than our Sun.

I do not get it, and I feel like I should.

OT: It's a pretty exciting prospect.

It's quite easy; a red dwarf is a lot cooler than our sun, so the planet has to be closer to it to still be in the Goldilocks zone.

Edit: Oh the pun, yeah I didn't see one. Either he's playing this one you:

Or he's just making a reference to the Red Dwarf series, which isn't much of a pun.

 

[Blue_vision]

I Say it's possible that the planet could play a part in te future of humanity...But the problem still stands, we technically still haven't left our solar system...And to get to 'Gliese' we'd have to develop a vehicle capable of travelling at light speed, and even then it would take roughly 20 years to get there so...If anything, we should think of Cryogenic Freezing on a much slower ship, or years of waiting for adequate technology.

The key is to learn how to develop on asteroids, then just hitch a ride on a rogue asteroid or comet and send it in the general direction of the system. If you think we're going to be building an entire spaceship that can reach any significant speed to travel for well over 100 years as a method of getting to another star system, you've got another thing coming.

It's a cool finding, but of very little use. There are dozens of stars that are closer that we should be migrating to first, when we actually start doing that. It'd be cool if there was actually liquid water on the planet, which might be able to exist in a ring between the light and dark zones of the planet, and seeing how weather functions on such a planet would be pretty awesome too.

 

[Calgetorix]

Ehh I reckon it might support life. That would be awesome.

Isn't it 20 light years away? I'm thinking 20? So we're seeing it 20 years in the past.

Now, to invent a spaceship that can travel at 0.5c ! Only a 40-year trip

Or 34.6 years for those in the spacecraft ; )

There's already another thread on this subject just in case you didn't notice:
Linkie linkie [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/18.235580-Earth-like-planet-found-Your-reactions?]

 

[SnipErlite]

Or 34.6 years for those in the spacecraft ; )

There's already another thread on this subject just in case you didn't notice:
Linkie linkie [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/18.235580-Earth-like-planet-found-Your-reactions?]

Ah. Very clever....yes I failed to take that into account. Silly me

 

[DeepComet5581]

I Say it's possible that the planet could play a part in te future of humanity...But the problem still stands, we technically still haven't left our solar system...And to get to 'Gliese' we'd have to develop a vehicle capable of travelling at light speed, and even then it would take roughly 20 years to get there so...If anything, we should think of Cryogenic Freezing on a much slower ship, or years of waiting for adequate technology.

Of course, at the moment the possibility doesn't exist, but there are a lot of scientists who take the writings of Gene Roddenberry seriously, so it may just be possible in 30, 40 years.

Heh, well yes Science fiction and the like are closer to reality than we really think, besides, we're basing our current 'research' on elements and resources found on earth, for all we know, there could be a rock on mars that is several times more efficient than fuel, and takes a long time to burn out, So it could be a potential kick-start to proper space travel.

It's all a matter of time.

 

[SimuLord]

If we send a colony ship someday, we'd better be damn well prepared for mind worms, Locusts of Chiron, Isles of the Deep, and fungus as far as the eye can see.

 

[DeepComet5581]

If we send a colony ship someday, we'd better be damn well prepared for mind worms, Locusts of Chiron, Isles of the Deep, and fungus as far as the eye can see.

Not to mention the Reapers.

EDIT: Yay! 300 posts.

 

[Alandoril]

I must admit it is an exciting discovery, simply because of the possibilities it represents.