'Earth 2.0' found in Nasa Kepler telescope haul

Gwynston

Link: A haul of planets from Nasa's Kepler telescope includes a world sharing many characteristics with Earth.

I can't help thinking the emphasis on finding Earth-like planets in the "Goldilocks Zone" is a bit over-stressed in these discussions.

After all, based on the following comparisons with Earth:

• Size
• Composition (e.g. rocky)
• Distance from host star
• Size, type and age of host star

By far the best candidate for 'Earth 2.0' also happens to be the very closest planet to us:

Ladies and Gentlemen, I present you with [drum roll].... VENUS

Of course, unfortunately there's not much liquid water there anyway. So much for the "Goldilocks Zone"... :rolleyes:

rolion

Nothing personal but whats is all the rubbish talking about Earth 2.0 !?
To divert the attention from OUR dying Earth, to get more funds or what !???

Can you imagine "driving" a thousands years there, then another thousands to get back to say "yes" or "not" !?? New Horizons is in our back yard and takes 16 months to get some data send over ...

During the AMA with New Horizons, when asked what will they change or wanted to be on that 10 years technology ship, they replied...to fit the warp drive. Where is the technology acquired trough Stargate programme !? Used for military reasons only of course and against another "cold war" scenario humans!?

So, invest your time, money and resources in getting "the warp drive" installed then start looking for other planets !

Captain Chaos

Also the fact their star is 1.5 billion years older and is already 10-20% hotter and brighter than our sun, I don't see the big deal.

In less than a billion years the sun will be too hot and bright for any life to exist on Earth.

HeathenWolf

A place where religion is an alien concept... Literally.

Maximus Alexander

Gwynston wrote: »

Ladies and Gentlemen, I present you with [drum roll].... VENUS

Of course, unfortunately there's not much liquid water there anyway. So much for the "Goldilocks Zone"... :rolleyes:

Venus is not in the Goldilocks Zone though. Earth itself is considered to be on the inner, hot edge of the zone.

On that basis, Venus has an Earth Similarity index of only 0.44. Mars is considered more similar, at 0.70.

maquiladora

Maximus Alexander wrote: »

Venus is not in the Goldilocks Zone though. Earth itself is considered to be on the inner, hot edge of the zone.

On that basis, Venus has an Earth Similarity index of only 0.44. Mars is considered more similar, at 0.70.

Indeed. This graphic shows it quite well.

maquiladora

Captain Chaos wrote: »

Also the fact their star is 1.5 billion years older and is already 10-20% hotter and brighter than our sun, I don't see the big deal.

1.5 billion years older means an extra 1.5 billion years for life to possibly develop.

The star is brighter than our Sun but the planet is further away from that star than Earth is from the Sun.

Mountainsandh

Feeling a bit deflated after looking at this infographic (sorry it's in French, not hard to understand though Lumiere = light, année = year) :
it would take Voyager 1 24.332.000 years to reach it ...

http://www.sciencesetavenir.fr/infographies/20140418.OBS4447/combien-de-temps-faudrait-il-pour-atteindre-kepler-186f.html

_Tombstone_

What You Need to Know About Kepler-452b, the Most Earthlike Planet Yet

Gwynston

Maximus Alexander wrote: »

Venus is not in the Goldilocks Zone though. Earth itself is considered to be on the inner, hot edge of the zone.

On that basis, Venus has an Earth Similarity index of only 0.44. Mars is considered more similar, at 0.70.

Quite.
So for my initial point, replace Venus with Mars.
If we found a planet like Mars in it's region around another star, we'd get all excited, but there's an awful lot more to make up an Earth-like planet than just being in the Goldilocks zone.

Maximus Alexander

Gwynston wrote: »

Quite.
So for my initial point, replace Venus with Mars.
If we found a planet like Mars in it's region around another star, we'd get all excited, but there's an awful lot more to make up an Earth-like planet than just being in the Goldilocks zone.

We wouldn't get particularly excited though, because we would judge it an unlikely home for life, and less similar to Earth than Kepler-452b.

Gwynston

Here's an interesting article discussing the vagaries of the Goldilocks Zone:
What makes a planet habitable?
By Christopher Watson Queen's University, Belfast

Gwynston

A suggestion for how the building blocks of life could have been created:
http://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-33988456

_Tombstone_

Gwynston wrote: »

A suggestion for how the building blocks of life could have been created:
http://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-33988456

Vitamin B3 comes from SPACE: Niacin finding supports theories of extraterrestrial origins for life on Earth

maninasia

You're a little late to the party.

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?p=69715412

The first line of the OP is a classic. 'Most of us know what the goldilocks zone is...'

tac foley

Mountainsandh wrote: »

Feeling a bit deflated after looking at this infographic (sorry it's in French, not hard to understand though Lumiere = light, année = year) :
it would take Voyager 1 24.332.000 years to reach it ...

http://www.sciencesetavenir.fr/infographies/20140418.OBS4447/combien-de-temps-faudrait-il-pour-atteindre-kepler-186f.html

That's 24,332,000 years, for those unfamiliar with the way that our French pals do things....

No rush then, eh?

tac