MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency
Astronomers working from Chile discover Earth ‘clone’ in ‘our backyard’
Astronomers have found a new planet, the closest yet outside our solar system and just an astronomical stone's throw away at four light years, raising the chances of finding a habitable planet in Earth's neighbourhood. Read full article
Comments
Disclaimer & comment rulesWatch out, Argentina might claim sovereignty over it. They have a habit of claiming things that were discovered by others.
Oct 18th, 2012 - 09:02 pm - Link - Report abuse 0But when we learn to bend space time the travel time will be instantaneous.
Oct 18th, 2012 - 09:09 pm - Link - Report abuse 0its about six light years away, so they say.
Oct 18th, 2012 - 11:21 pm - Link - Report abuse 0and even has a few sun;s.
but so far, NO argies or CFK agents have been found.
Is that an actual image, or just an artist's concept?
Oct 19th, 2012 - 01:39 pm - Link - Report abuse 0we think it is an actual picture,
Oct 19th, 2012 - 01:55 pm - Link - Report abuse 0the papers say , today it 4 light years away.
however far that is .?
@5 briton
Oct 19th, 2012 - 04:39 pm - Link - Report abuse 0the speed of light (the physical constant) is approximately 186,000 miles a second or 700 million miles an hour.
A light-year is the distance that light travels in one year. It's a long way! And four of them is even further!
Nothing can travel at more than the speed of light. However, it we could learn how to 'bend' or 'warp' space time and fold it so that the Earth and the new planet co-exist (almost) at the same point then travel to the new planet would be instantaneous.
That would be good, would it not?
@7 All of this reminds me of sci-fi films like Aliens and Avatar. I know, I know, pretty sad. But the type of transport they have in both films are actually realistic, like Project Orion and solar wind sailing. Getting to 5% of the speed of light could get us to Alpha Centauri in 80 years, which is still excellent.
Oct 19th, 2012 - 06:13 pm - Link - Report abuse 07 THEMan
Oct 19th, 2012 - 09:12 pm - Link - Report abuse 080 years is a very long time to spend weightless in space and no-one has yet got anywhere near 5% of the speed of light (35 million MPH). Remember that the energy required increases as the square of the velocity. That alone is a daunting consideration.
I hope and trust that science will eventually get to resolve long distance space travel but my money would be on warping space time, not that anybody alive now will ever see it for themselves.
There are a few seemingly possible ideas floating about but they need fundamental work doing to get near to identifying an actual solution.
ChrisR I suggest you google Project Orion and interstellar travel. You'll be amazed at how possible it actually is. Try the NASA site too for Orion.
Oct 19th, 2012 - 09:41 pm - Link - Report abuse 0Shsssssss Better to not tell this news to Alien Britons because they will start to invent stories about how they were the first to see it and how they have left a sign there in remote times and will would like to place a BOT full of retarded there living in prefab houses shantytown style.
Oct 20th, 2012 - 12:11 am - Link - Report abuse 0No need to ruin a new world...
9 THEMan
Oct 20th, 2012 - 11:38 am - Link - Report abuse 0Yes, I already know about Orion and other promising concepts as well.
But the problem is put into perspective here:
Voyager 1 is departing the Solar System at a speed of 39,000 miles per hour.
Voyager 2 is departing the Solar System at a speed of 35,000 miles per hour.
Eventually, the Voyagers will pass other stars:
Voyager 1, in 40,000 years, will float by within 1.6 light years (9.3 trillion miles) of a star known as AC+79 3888 in the constellation Camelopardalis.
Voyager 2, in 296,000 years, will sail within 4.3 light years (25 trillion miles) of Sirius, which today is the brightest star in Earth's sky.
Note the 4.3 light years!!
I respectively suggest you recalculate the figures that led you to 80 years.
http://www.spacetoday.org/SolSys/Voyagers20years.html
Thank you for your reply chrisR,
Oct 22nd, 2012 - 05:21 pm - Link - Report abuse 0it was most interesting.
p/s
so still hope for a time machine then .lol.
12 briton
Oct 22nd, 2012 - 08:03 pm - Link - Report abuse 0No, sorry, there is NO chance of that.
The space (see what I said here) on MercoPress precludes me from explaining why that is so, but there are very good grounds to make that statement.
thats ok chrisR
Oct 22nd, 2012 - 10:25 pm - Link - Report abuse 0who knows what the future will bring.
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