Welcome to DU!
The truly grassroots left-of-center political community where regular people, not algorithms, drive the discussions and set the standards.
Join the community:
Create a free account
Support DU (and get rid of ads!):
Become a Star Member
Latest Breaking News
General Discussion
The DU Lounge
All Forums
Issue Forums
Culture Forums
Alliance Forums
Region Forums
Support Forums
Help & Search
Latest Breaking News
Showing Original Post only (View all)One in Five Stars Has Earth-sized Planet in Habitable Zone [View all]
Source: W. M . Keck Observatory
Waimea, Hawaii Scientists from University of California, Berkeley, and University of Hawaii, Manoa, have statistically determined that twenty percent of Sun-like stars in our galaxy have Earth-sized planets that could host life. The findings, gleaned from data collected from NASAs Kepler spacecraft and the W. M. Keck Observatory, now satisfy Kepler's primary mission: to determine how many of the 100 billion stars in our galaxy have potentially habitable planets. The results are being published November 4 in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
"What this means is, when you look up at the thousands of stars in the night sky, the nearest sun-like star with an Earth-size planet in its habitable zone is probably only 12 light years away and can be seen with the naked eye. That is amazing," said UC Berkeley graduate student Erik Petigura, who led the analysis of the Kepler and Keck Observatory data.
"For NASA, this number that every fifth star has a planet somewhat like Earth is really important, because successor missions to Kepler will try to take an actual picture of a planet, and the size of the telescope they have to build depends on how close the nearest Earth-size planets are," said Andrew Howard, astronomer with the Institute for Astronomy at the University of Hawaii. "An abundance of planets orbiting nearby stars simplifies such follow-up missions."
The team, which also included planet hunter Geoffrey Marcy, UC Berkeley professor of astronomy, cautioned that Earth-size planets in Earth-size orbits are not necessarily hospitable to life, even if they orbit in the habitable zone of a star where the temperature is not too hot and not too cold.
"What this means is, when you look up at the thousands of stars in the night sky, the nearest sun-like star with an Earth-size planet in its habitable zone is probably only 12 light years away and can be seen with the naked eye. That is amazing," said UC Berkeley graduate student Erik Petigura, who led the analysis of the Kepler and Keck Observatory data.
"For NASA, this number that every fifth star has a planet somewhat like Earth is really important, because successor missions to Kepler will try to take an actual picture of a planet, and the size of the telescope they have to build depends on how close the nearest Earth-size planets are," said Andrew Howard, astronomer with the Institute for Astronomy at the University of Hawaii. "An abundance of planets orbiting nearby stars simplifies such follow-up missions."
The team, which also included planet hunter Geoffrey Marcy, UC Berkeley professor of astronomy, cautioned that Earth-size planets in Earth-size orbits are not necessarily hospitable to life, even if they orbit in the habitable zone of a star where the temperature is not too hot and not too cold.
Read more: http://www.keckobservatory.org/recent/entry/one_in_five_stars_has_earth_sized_planet_in_habitable_zone
But which one is the Planet Kolob?
InfoView thread info, including edit history
TrashPut this thread in your Trash Can (My DU » Trash Can)
BookmarkAdd this thread to your Bookmarks (My DU » Bookmarks)
62 replies, 11923 views
ShareGet links to this post and/or share on social media
AlertAlert this post for a rule violation
PowersThere are no powers you can use on this post
EditCannot edit other people's posts
ReplyReply to this post
EditCannot edit other people's posts
Rec (31)
ReplyReply to this post
62 replies
= new reply since forum marked as read
Highlight:
NoneDon't highlight anything
5 newestHighlight 5 most recent replies
Never gonna happen. Besides, if we wreck this place, we don't deserve a second chance.
arcane1
Nov 2013
#28
What an absurd statement. I'm not dooming anyone, nor am I capable of doing so.
arcane1
Nov 2013
#61
At the rate corporations are despoiling the environment for financial gain, aided and abetted by
indepat
Nov 2013
#13
Yep. "Habitable" has a different meaning for scientists than for "normal people".
Xithras
Nov 2013
#57
I tend to think that is the problem .. It would be nice if they could help us out.. we need it.
YOHABLO
Nov 2013
#21
Indeed, our combination of intelligence, curiosity, and tool innovation are probably quite rare.
arcane1
Nov 2013
#30
This is a great and fascinating post, but the Mediocrity Principle sounds like bullshit to me.
arcane1
Nov 2013
#36
A toast, to whatever processes resulted in our good fortune to be here discussing said processes!
arcane1
Nov 2013
#47
It wouldn't take much of a change for hydropower to have been the dominant power source
muriel_volestrangler
Nov 2013
#51
If their technology level was much higher than ours they may use a different method ...
spin
Nov 2013
#25
But ... but ... Earth is the center of the universe and mankind is the sole focus of The Deity!
Arugula Latte
Nov 2013
#59