OT: Possible Earth-like Planet Found by NASA?

Genersis

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Well looks like NASA has something to share with the world related to the Kepler Telescope. The Livestream is set to start in about eight minutes.

The immediate speculation is that they may have found a Earth-like planet.
While I want to believe such is the case, I will try not get to excited as that may not be the case.

Just thought I'd share:
 
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Genersis

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Hmm, the Livestream seems to of cut out, but a rough quick summary would be:
Compared to all of the other planets found in the habitable zones around stars so far(around...11 I think?), this planet is the most similar to Earth by a fair margin:
  • It's the first to circle a Class G Star, much like Earth does. Removing some possible unknown quantities that could effect habitability with other classes of star.
  • It takes a similar amount of time to circle its star(385 days)
  • It is a similar distance from its star(ergo, why it receives a similar amount of energy, placing it in the habitable zone)
  • It has been in the habitable zone for 200 million years.

What differentiates it:
  • It's size, it is slightly bigger than the Earth.
  • We aren't yet sure if it's a rocky planet, but it's more likely to be than not.
  • Ergo, we're not sure of its mass, but it is likely higher than Earth, so it would have higher gravity; current prediction is 2G.

Extra Trivia:
  • 1,400 Lightyears away
  • Estimated mass of 5 Earth Masses.
  • Estimated radius of 6 Earth radii

NASA News release:
http://www.nasa.gov/press-release/nasa-kepler-mission-discovers-bigger-older-cousin-to-earth

EDIT 1: It's still going. The panel is taking questions.
EDIT 2: The stream has ended.
 
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Genersis

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200 Billion years? That's gotta be a typo.
Nah, it's my broken ears.
I was noting it down during the announcement, so I may if added or dropped a zero here and there...
 
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mark46

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http://www.solstation.com/planets/earths.htm

We need a planet much closer, if we are to have a place for humanity to continue if there is a crisis on Earth.

I have been reading science fiction, and have been interested in this issue, for over 60 years.

As an aside, I'm not sure why the article says that this is the first planet in the habitable zone. I guess I misread. There have been several. A key factor will be an atmosphere that protects against radiation, as ours does.

http://phl.upr.edu/projects/habitable-exoplanets-catalog

I would note that there are places in our solar system where liquid water exists. I suspect that we could build an underwater environment. We also could build an environment on Mars. These possibilities are in addition to "terraforming" (the starting of atmospheric processes that would make a world more earth-like.
 
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Colin

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I was beging to wonder if I was the only one who gets excited about such things. :p
There are others , Genersis...........;);)..........
abou-01-l.jpg
.
 
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Genersis

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http://www.solstation.com/planets/earths.htm

We need a planet much closer, if we are to have a place for humanity to continue if there is a crisis on Earth.

I have been reading science fiction, and have been interested in this issue, for over 60 years.

As an aside, I'm not sure why the article says that this is the first planet in the habitable zone. I guess I misread. There have been several. A key factor will be an atmosphere that protects against radiation, as ours does.

http://phl.upr.edu/projects/habitable-exoplanets-catalog

I would note that there are places in our solar system where liquid water exists. I suspect that we could build an underwater environment. We also could build an environment on Mars. These possibilities are in addition to "terraforming" (the starting of atmospheric processes that would make a world more earth-like.
Unfortunately, no planet outside the Solar System is remotely within reach for any purpose. We would need a breakthrough in propulsion to achieve FTL speeds, or, some nigh infinite form of suspended animation for journeys spanning lightyears/millennia. Neither of which do I think will be possible for at least another couple of centuries.

There are some interesting bodies in our own system though.
Mars is exciting, I also would like to see more research done on Titan; I think there is probably many interesting things we could learn about its methane oceans and methane cycle(contrasted to our own water cycle).
 
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mark46

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Unfortunately, no planet outside the Solar System is remotely within reach for any purpose. We would need a breakthrough in propulsion to achieve FTL speeds, or, some nigh infinite form of suspended animation for journeys spanning lightyears/millennia. Neither of which do I think will be possible for at least another couple of centuries.

There are some interesting bodies in our own system though.
Mars is exciting, I also would like to see more research done on Titan; I think there is probably many interesting things we could learn about its methane oceans and methane cycle(contrasted to our own water cycle).

I'm interested in the objects in our solar system that have lots of water.
http://www.popularmechanics.com/space/a14555/water-worlds-in-our-solar-system/
 
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Fantine

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God is so much greater than our limited imaginations can fathom.

I hope that discoveries such as these will increase rather than decrease people's faith as they realize that the story of creation is still being written and that our universe is expanding every day.
 
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mark46

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Don't forget that b oth Venus and Mars are in the goldilocks zone also, but they haven't shown any signs of life.
???
You should check out the average temperatures on Venus, and the details of their atmosphere before making silly statements.
 
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classicalhero

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The goldilocks region is places where based on location that it could be suitable for life. The fact that Venus is in this region shows there is far more than just location for life the exist, which is exactly my point. Venus is inhospitable to life because you need more than just the right location for life, since you need the correct atmosphere and a host of other things which so far are only one planet, earth.
 
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Genersis

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Genersis , what would for you constitute an Earth-like planet ?
Not sure, I'm only using NASA's terminology.
Which seems to at the very least include being rocky planet in its star's habitable zone as pre-requisites.

To me, it appears that Earth-like means "Could support conditions for Earth-like life"; which seems a fair definition of the phrase.

Further reading for those interested:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Earth_analog
 
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