The Astronomy Thread

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Eomer

Eomer

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Araysar_sl said:
doesnt mean shit if theyre not in the goldilocks zone

size means nothing
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Did you read the link?

Space is vast, but it may not be so lonely after all: A study finds the Milky Way is teeming with billions of planets that are about the size of Earth, orbit stars just like our sun, and exist in the Goldilocks zone - not too hot and not too cold for life.

Astronomers using NASA data have calculated for the first time that in our galaxy alone, there are at least 8.8 billion stars with Earth-size planets in the habitable temperature zone.
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I could see how you'd miss it, those being the first two paragraphs of the article. But in all seriousness, that number is pretty staggering, especially if you consider the context: it wouldn't include Earth-sized moons of gas giants in the habitable zone, nor Earth-like planets (or Earth sized moons) around stars larger or smaller than ours, but still within the habitable zone of those types of stars. The original article says that if you include the habitable Earth's around Red Dwarfs, the number might be more like 40 billion, and again that doesn't count Earth-sized moons.

In summary, the Mormons were right.
 
Tuco

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I wouldn't call the number staggering. We've always known that there's an immense number of stars out there. It's just a matter of what information we have to guess what the likelihood is that a star has a planet within certain parameters.

And a planet being within a specific band around a star is only the beginning when it comes to how habitable our planet is.
 
opiate82

opiate82

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iannis

iannis

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They're gonna build a bumperkarts track in the rings in about 500 years.

You know they will. Bless them.

Edit: I'd probably call the potential itself staggering but I wouldn't call it a revelation. Carl Sagan has an episode where he was talking about exactly this on Cosmos. We've already guessed this much if you take a moment to consider the deeper than surface ramifications of what we do know. What we have now is a better idea of one of the boundary conditions. That part is maybe the revelation, but also not staggering.

Staggeringwouldwill beifwhen theyfoundfind one rather than the potential for one.
 
Eomer

Eomer

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Tuco_sl said:
I wouldn't call the number staggering. We've always known that there's an immense number of stars out there. It's just a matter of what information we have to guess what the likelihood is that a star has a planet within certain parameters.

And a planet being within a specific band around a star is only the beginning when it comes to how habitable our planet is.
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We've always known there was an immense number of stars, sure. But only in the past decade have we started to even have a remote idea about how many planets there might be, and the initial indications were that most of them were hot Jupiters. This new data has confirmed that our particular solar system is probably incredibly numerous (if not actually typical or "average"). Agreed that just because a planet is in the habitable zone doesn't mean it's actually habitable. But given the sheer number, it means that in our own galactic vicinity of say 25 light years, there's likely dozens or hundreds of Earth analogues, I'm not clear on what the range would be. That's a big deal, because even without new physics or completely new propulsion systems we can reach those systems with robotic probes in a reasonable timeframe of a half century or so.

For all we knew even a couple years ago, Earth analogues were rare and the probability of having one in the neighborhood was extremely low.
 
Phazael

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The real issue is finding water bearing worlds in the sweet spot zone. I think it is unlikely that we will find an intelligent spacefaring civilization (nor would we want to) as, given cosmic scale and time, they are likely to be so vastly advanced beyond us that we would be little more than an infestation on a water planet to them. Or (eventually) they will be so far behind us that we will inevitably exploit or eradicate them. It does make the concept of eventually colonizing space a lot more interesting and plausible, though.
 
Szlia

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Finding an exoplanet that could sustain life is one thing. Finding one where this potential becomes a reality is another. But worst of all, is finding a planet that has life NOW, not one that used to have life or one that will have life in the future. Add sentience to the mix and you reduce both likeliness and time span. Add higher intelligence (communication, tools, transmission of knowledge) and you reduce both further. At that point, 9 billion planets does not sound that much.
 
Pancreas

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I think that's for the best. If humans are indicative of what it takes to become a sentient living species that is exploring the heavens, then I don't want to ever meet anything else that has managed to reach for the stars. They will likely be expansionists with bad attitudes and advanced technology. Like Ghengis Khan ...In SPACE!

Interplanetary space will probably be the extent of human influence for hundreds of years to come. Although it is kinda cool to think about what it would take to get people to nearby stars. Maybe we will perfect genetic engineering to the point where we can send out spores that colonize worlds and contain all of the information to artificially evolve entire ecosystems that culminates in new types of humans suited to live on these new planets. These people might not know how they got there or even that earth exists, but that is a minor issue. The point is they got there.
 
Szlia

Szlia

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I read there is a comet visible these days that is getting near the sun. Some of you guys with telescopes took some pictures of it?
 
Furry

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Szlia_sl said:
I read there is a comet visible these days that is getting near the sun. Some of you guys with telescopes took some pictures of it?
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weathers been shit here. Look for it in the morning
 
Araysar

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lumie says this comet heralds end of the world
 
Tuco

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Will take one week avatar bets on the outcome. My vote is that it survives, anyone want to come at me?
 
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