Mar 28 - Tens of Billions of Planets in Habitable Zones Around Red Dwarfs in the Milky Way |
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| By ReppinDaBurghh - 03-28-2012, 10:47 AM - Boxden > BX Daily Bugle - news and headlines ![]() http://www.universetoday.com/94347/b...the-milky-way/ Astronomers estimate that there are tens of billions of rocky planets located in habitable zones around red dwarfs in our galaxy alone. Red dwarf stars are faint and cool compared to the Sun, but they are very common and long-lived. Red dwarfs account for 80% of all the stars in the Milky Way. The researchers estimate that about 40% off all red dwarf stars have a super-Earth orbiting in the habitable zone where liquid water can exist on the planet's surface. There are 160 billion red dwarfs in the Milky Way, so this means there must be tens of billions of super-Earths (planets with masses between one and ten times that of Earth) in our galaxy. An artist's impression of a sunset seen from the super-Earth Gliese 667 Cc is pictured above. The brightest star in the sky is the red dwarf Gliese 667 C, which is part of a triple star system. The other two more distant stars, Gliese 667 A and B appear in the sky also to the right. The international team of researchers has been making observations with the HARPS spectrograph on the 3.6-meter telescope at ESO's La Silla Observatory in Chile. The HARPS team surveyed a sample of 102 red dwarf stars in the southern skies over a six-year period. A total of nine super-Earths were found, including two inside the habitable zones of Gliese 581 and Gliese 667 C respectively. By combining all the data, including observations of stars that did not have planets, and looking at the fraction of existing planets that could be discovered, the team found that the frequency of occurrence of super-Earths in the habitable zone is 41% with a range from 28% to 95%. As there are many red dwarf stars close to our Sun the new estimate means that there are probably about 100 super-Earth planets in the habitable zones around stars in the neighborhood of the Sun at distances less than about 30 light-years. Xavier Bonfils (IPAG, Observatoire des Sciences de l'Univers de Grenoble, France), the leader of the team, says, "Our new observations with HARPS mean that about 40% of all red dwarf stars have a super-Earth orbiting in the habitable zone where liquid water can exist on the surface of the planet. Because red dwarfs are so common - there are about 160 billion of them in the Milky Way - this leads us to the astonishing result that there are tens of billions of these planets in our galaxy alone." The astronomers say Red dwarfs may b0mbard some of its super-Earth planets with X-rays or ultraviolet radiation, which would make them more hostile to life. Stephane Udry (Geneva Observatory and member of the team) says, "The habitable zone around a red dwarf, where the temperature is suitable for liquid water to exist on the surface, is much closer to the star than the Earth is to the Sun. But red dwarfs are known to be subject to stellar eruptions or flares, which may bathe the planet in X-rays or ultraviolet radiation, and which may make life there less likely." at the size of the Galaxy, let alone the Universe. But at the article. |
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| 03-28-2012, 05:28 PM | away - #2 |
| 1) this is ONLY in our galaxy 2) this is only in our dimension 3) There is most likely life(most likely microscopic) in our own tiny SOLAR SYSTEM, which is just a spec of sand in our galaxy Conclusion: How can you possibly believe that we are alone in the Universe? Side Note: How do you think religion would explain/be affected by the discovery of life elsewhere? [pic] | |
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| 03-28-2012, 05:38 PM | away - #3 | |
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| 03-28-2012, 05:40 PM | away - #4 | |
If we're thinking outside the Box, its only right that there are probably countless other "forms" of life somewhere out there. Why would earth be the 1 out of a billion (trillion, really infinity if you count all the possiblites) that supports life? I guess its the "human nature" in us with that selfish thinking. ...the real question is, do we REALLY want to know what is out there? & looking at how much they estimated a real Starship enterprise would be to build...no human would be able to travel to even the Anermoda galaxy at least for a millini- if not longer. But even if there was technology to do so, we do understand that time doesnt exist really in space so once your gone it would be like your literally Gone too. Had to novel this out though, !!s intriguing. I was watching youtube video about the largest star ever found or something & its like a million or a billion times the mass of our sun (cant remember which 1, cause either or I couldnt fathom). But 1st we need to get simple things in check on earth, like accepting & living with different colors & culture of people. Why the !! they wanna go all the way out there to find "aliens" & this what would appear to be simple on Earth task has been going on since the inception of society. I doubt that divide & conquer !! would work anywhere in space that supports life. Last edited by ARosary; 03-28-2012 at 05:43 PM.. | ||
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| 03-28-2012, 05:51 PM | away - #5 |
| there is a god, religion and science explains it energy can not be created nor destroyed, it can only be transfered, the energy this universe has didnt come from nothing because in order for everything to to exist there has to be a preternatural source(aka creator(s)), the "big bang theory"( or the nothing and void method mention in the bible) didnt start in this dimension. its not that hard [pic] Last edited by kiddrocay; 03-28-2012 at 05:54 PM.. | |
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| 03-28-2012, 05:59 PM | away - #6 |
| an that's just our galaxy [pic] | |
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| 03-28-2012, 06:14 PM | away - #7 | |
it just has you in ah which is why philosophy was created ( I forgot where I read it) but phil-los- (phy(ah) )- was created because the belief of a god existing, the ah was when they referred to god being a her | ||
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| 03-28-2012, 07:10 PM | away - #8 |
| what bothers me about this is that life could theoretically be found anywhere...we dont know enough about life to say where and where it cant exist..what may be habitable to life on this planet may not be to life found elsewhere etc. and vice versa | |
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| 03-28-2012, 07:23 PM | away - #9 | |
"God couldn't have come from nothing". Get that tired argument out of this thread. | ||
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| 03-28-2012, 07:25 PM | away - #10 | |
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| 03-28-2012, 07:30 PM | away - #11 | |
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| 03-28-2012, 07:37 PM | away - #12 | |
read my post over again because I stated it couldnt come from nothing or therefore we wouldnt exist | ||
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| 03-28-2012, 07:41 PM | away - #13 | |
I was saying I hate the argument that the Universe couldn't have come from nothing. Especially from pro-religious people who then turn around and ignore the fact that going by your logic, if the Universe couldn't have come from nothing, God couldn't have come from nothing either. So [pic] yourself. My post was pretty clear. | ||
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| 03-28-2012, 07:57 PM | away - #14 | |
shaking my mother !!ing head a at the ignorance of people believing we come from nothing, ignorance is the most blisful thing around us also did I attack anyone who doesnt believe in this(up until now because you attacked me first) I was only giving reasoning didnt mean for someone to get mad and attack me because they dont believe the same thing | ||
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| 03-28-2012, 08:19 PM | away - #15 |
| [pic] | |
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| 03-28-2012, 08:24 PM | away - #16 |
| anybody ever watch that Stephen Hawking Into the Universe 3-part documentary? that !! was amazing | |
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| 03-28-2012, 08:36 PM | away - #17 | ||
Even without factoring this into the equation, life is a mathematical certainty in the universe. The real question is if intelligent life exists. These issues are becoming more and more accepted and mainstream, every year. NASA did a paper called: Would Contact with Extraterrestrials Benefit or Harm Humanity? A Scenario Analysis
As for religion, I believe that it would definitely alter our interpretation of all religions, even affecting atheism. For some it would strengthen their beliefs, but others would question them. It would be really interesting to to see what kind of spiritual beliefs other intelligent beings had. Not everyone believes in a God or just one god. Everyone has a different way of explaining our existence in the universe, whether it's with religion or with science. Last edited by kevante; 03-28-2012 at 08:39 PM.. | |||
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| 03-28-2012, 08:42 PM | away - #18 | |
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| 03-28-2012, 08:56 PM | away - #19 | |
[pic] Was a DOPE special. All 3 episodes are in the box. Episode 3 is wild. "The Story Of Everything" [pic] I watched all 3 episodes like 3 times each. First one is about Aliens, second about Time Travel, 3rd one is just an epic story of all kinds of mysteries. Pretty sure the 3rd one is 2 hours, to. | ||
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| 03-28-2012, 09:06 PM | away - #20 | |
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