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Second-closest extrasolar planet discovered


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Cool! A Plan B, if the colonization of Mars can't sustain enough people. If it's hospitable that is, unlike Proxima B.

Edited by sci-nerd
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If we are not stupid enough to nuke ourselves or destroy our environment to unsustainable level... we will explore these worlds in the future.

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"BAGSIES FOR MY DESCENDANTS!"

(...and Dr Anglada Escude from London's Queen Mary University is disgusted that she didn't think to call it for herself).

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The good news is Barnard’s star is travelling towards us over the next 10,000 years and will be only 3.8 LY away. 

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1 hour ago, seanjo said:

I don't think Mars will be colonised on a permanent basis anytime soon; unless we can get around the radiation problem.

It will be colonised an awful lot sooner than any exoplanet.

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17 hours ago, sci-nerd said:

Cool! A Plan B, if the colonization of Mars can't sustain enough people. If it's hospitable that is, unlike Proxima B.

Plan B? Mars is a lot closer than this exoplanet.

Proxima B is around 4.2 light years away, this second one is 6, we are going to need a longer alphabet to even think about making plans. 

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1 hour ago, freetoroam said:

Plan B? Mars is a lot closer than this exoplanet.

With current technology we can reach Mars in around 9 months, the nearest stars in around 30,000 years. Colonisation of Mars is difficult but possible in the near term, colonisation of exoplanets is generations away.

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5 minutes ago, Waspie_Dwarf said:

With current technology we can reach Mars in around 9 months, the nearest stars in around 30,000 years. Colonisation of Mars is difficult but possible in the near term, colonisation of exoplanets is generations away.

This is the wonders of science, we can not think about ourselves today, it is about thinking about the future generations and what can be passed along for progress.

Today, we still have a long way to go, in miles and technology. If we can just hold ourselves together on Earth without destroying ourselves, we have a chance to give the future scientists a chance. 

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Please correct me if I'm wrong, but with the mass, won't the gravity of this exoplanet be too much for our bodies to take?

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1 hour ago, paperdyer said:

Please correct me if I'm wrong, but with the mass, won't the gravity of this exoplanet be too much for our bodies to take?

It depends on it's radius. Surface gravity is determined not just by the mass of the planet but how far away you are from it's centre (or put another way surface gravity is determined by density).

Surface gravity as a proportion of Earth's is determined by the equation:

g∝m/r2

where g is surface gravity, m is the mass of the planet and r is the radius of the planet (in all cases Earth = 1).

The planet has a mass around 3 times that of Earth, So if the planet has the same radius as Earth it's surface gravity = 3/12 = 3. Certainly uncomfortable

However if the planet also has a radius 3x greater than that of the Earth then it has a surface gravity of 3/32 =3/9 = 1/3 so it would have a surface gravity around that of Mars.

 

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On 15/11/2018 at 12:14 PM, seanjo said:

I don't think Mars will be colonised on a permanent basis anytime soon; unless we can get around the radiation problem.

We already solved that issue.

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55 minutes ago, sci-nerd said:

We already solved that issue.

Did we? You need to tell NASA then as they don't seem to have got the message.

https://www.nasa.gov/hrp/elements/radiation/risks

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19 minutes ago, Waspie_Dwarf said:

Did we? You need to tell NASA then as they don't seem to have got the message.

https://www.nasa.gov/hrp/elements/radiation/risks

Alright, maybe I should have said: They already know how to solve the issue.

https://www.nasa.gov/feature/space-radiation-won-t-stop-nasa-s-human-exploration

Sorry for creating confusion on the matter.

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3 minutes ago, sci-nerd said:

Alright, maybe I should have said: They already know how to solve the issue.

 

Still not correct.

Read your own link, especially the bit I have quoted below:

Quote

NASA is evaluating various materials and concepts to shield the crew from GCRs. Researchers are developing and evaluating shielding concepts for transport vehicles, habitats and space suits with state of the art models and at experimental facilities such as the NASA Space Radiation Laboratory (NSRL). Scientists are investigating pharmaceutical countermeasures, which may be more effective than shielding to protect crews from GCRs

What you should have said is, "NASA are working on ways to solve the issue", That;s very, VERY different from having solved the problem.

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1 minute ago, Waspie_Dwarf said:

Still not correct.

Read your own link, especially the bit I have quoted below:

What you should have said is, "NASA are working on ways to solve the issue", That;s very, VERY different from having solved the problem.

It's like if you're in Toronto, and want to go to New York, but without signs along the way. You head south-east, and you will most likely get to New York sooner or later.

The "knowing how to solve it" is like knowing to go south-east. Get it? :tu:

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6 minutes ago, seanjo said:

Really, how?

Continue reading after the post you just quoted me from, and the confusion is cleared :tu:

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1 minute ago, seanjo said:

So no, we haven't solved that yet.

But we are determined to. We know the way to go. We are far from clueless. I'd go as far as saying: It's just a matter of time. Nothing else.

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1 minute ago, seanjo said:

Right now shielding is the only way to protect people, and that makes craft too heavy...at the moment.

No shielding is good enough for months/years in space, unfortunately. They are working on a medical solution, according to my above link.

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