Proxima b 'may well' harbour life

[CAPSLOCKSTUCK]

A team including CNRS astrophysicists have calculated the size and surface properties of the planet dubbed Proxima b, and concluded it may be an 'ocean planet' similar to Earth.

Scientists announced Proxima b's discovery in August, and said it may be the first exoplanet—planet outside our Solar System—to one day be visited by robots from Earth.

The planet orbits within a 'temperate' zone from its host star Proxima Centauri, some four light years from us.


It is estimated to have a mass about 1.3 times that of Earth, and orbits about 7.5 million kilometres (4.6 million miles) from its star—about a tenth the distance of innermost planet Mercury from the Sun.

'Contrary to what one might expect, such proximity does not necessarily mean that Proxima b's surface is too hot' for water to exist in liquid form, said a CNRS statement.

Proxima Centauri is smaller and 1,000 times weaker than our Sun, which means Proxima b is at exactly the right distance for conditions to be potentially habitable

http://phys.org/news/2016-10-planet-star-nearest-sun-oceans.html

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Proxima_Centauri_b

 

[dorsetknob]

Nuclear Powered Ion Drive Exo Planet Probe needed

 

[Recon-UK]

Knew about this about a month back lol.
?It's cool right?

 

[CAPSLOCKSTUCK]

Breakthrough Starshot concept would use an array of extremely high-power lasers to shoot a beam at a huge, extremely thin reflective sail. Energy from the beam would accelerate the sail (and a miniature probe attached to it) to 1/5 the speed of light, more than 1,000 times faster than anything humans have yet achieved.



Whos coming with me?

@Recon-UK the planet was discovered in August this year and these papers were released today

 

[Recon-UK]

Breakthrough Starshot concept would use an array of extremely high-power lasers to shoot a beam at a huge, extremely thin reflective sail. Energy from the beam would accelerate the sail (and a miniature probe attached to it) to 1/5 the speed of light, more than 1,000 times faster than anything humans have yet achieved.



Whos coming with me?

I'm down, Earth is boring anyway.

 

[dorsetknob]

Breakthrough Starshot concept would use an array of extremely high-power lasers to shoot a beam at a huge, extremely thin reflective sail. Energy from the beam would accelerate the sail (and a miniature probe attached to it) to 1/5 the speed of light, more than 1,000 times faster than anything humans have yet achieved.

And how do they Slow down to do the Science ???? no Brakes and no reverse thrust
are aliens supposed to use lazers on the light sail to slow it down

"oops Zarg to much power we incinerated it "

Ion Engine is the way to go and stop and maneuver

 

[CAPSLOCKSTUCK]

And how do they Slow down to do the Science ???? no Brakes and no reverse thrust
are aliens supposed to use lazers on the light sail to slow it down

"oops Zarg to much power we incinerated it "

we will worry about that when we get there....

 

[MyTechAddiction]

and when u get there just think at what amazing new names for the bacteria and amoebas will appear like capslockstuck amoeba, reconuk bacteria, mythechaddiction virus ......

 

[Recon-UK]

Naaa i would call a tree Recoounkiack

 

[MyTechAddiction]

they say its a water world so ...

 

[Recon-UK]

they say its a water world so ...

Tree will be so vast and massive that the water is merely it's drink.

 

[MyTechAddiction]

tree? as in only one?

 

[Recon-UK]

tree? as in only one?

Yes this tree will cover a quarter of the world, more than enough oxygen produced.

 

[MyTechAddiction]

ok , i`ll go have a look... don`t go anywhere....

 

[R-T-B]

ok , i`ll go have a look... don`t go anywhere....

I'll give you guys a nice froggy punch-start...

 

[MyTechAddiction]

on second thought a punching frog would be a great security officer.

 

[CAPSLOCKSTUCK]

Proxima Centauri, is 4.2 Light Years away. The Voyager spacecraft left the solar system at 37,000 miles per hour. At that speed, it would take Voyager 80,000 years to reach Proxima Centauri.

 

[dorsetknob]

The Voyager spacecraft left the solar system at 37,000 miles per hour.

Gravity Asisted unpowered sling shot

Lazer powered light sail potentialy boosts thrust progressivly all the time ( with Slowly reduction in total thrust due to distance increasing from light source (Small probe only )

Ion Power CONSTANT thrust and Acceleration all the time ( bigger Ship/Probe )
Can have higher inital thrust from Chemical Fuel Booster( later discarded) can also Slow Down at latter part of journey so useful science can be done

Both lazer power and ION Power would cover the 4.2 light years much quicker than a Unpowered gravity Slingshot
Its been Speculated either solar sail or Ion power could do it in Approx 30 to 40 Years

In a Race i would Back ION Power over Light Sail

 

[Caring1]

Proxima Centauri, is 4.2 Light Years away. The Voyager spacecraft left the solar system at 37,000 miles per hour. At that speed, it would take Voyager 80,000 years to reach Proxima Centauri.

Better bring a cut lunch then ...

 

[Drone]

More detailed information [and video] by New Scientist and Wired

Failed hunt for Proxima b's star transit leaves us in the dark

arXiv.org: No Conclusive Evidence for Transits of Proxima b in MOST photometry

Inside NASA's Quest to find Earth 2.0

 

[Drone]

'Project Blue' Aims To Take The First Snapshot Of A Twin Earth

Privately funded mission aims to launch the telescope into orbit in just a few years - a tiny amount of time in terms of space telescopes.

PopSci




edit: here's their official site

http://www.projectblue.org/

telescope render

 

[Drone]

Proxima Centauri, the star nearest the Sun, has a planetary system consisting of at least one planet. The new study analyzes and supplements earlier observations. These new measurements show that this planet, named Proxima Centauri b or simply Proxima b, has a mass close to that of Earth (1.3 times Earth's mass) and orbits its star at a distance of 0.05 AU (one tenth of the Sun-Mercury distance).

Computer simulations by astrophysicists at the University of Bern of the formation of planets orbiting in the habitable zone of low mass stars such as Proxima Centauri show that these planets are most likely to be roughly the size of the Earth and to contain large amounts of water (>10%). For comparison: The Earth has a fraction of water of only ~ 0.02%.

If Proxima b is composed of 50% rock surrounded by 50% water then it would be covered by a single liquid ocean 200 km deep. Below, the pressure would be so strong that liquid water would turn to high-pressure ice before reaching the boundary with the mantle to 3100 km depth. In these extreme cases, a thin gas atmosphere could cover the planet, as on Earth, making Proxima b potentially habitable.

Sources: NASA, University of Bern, Astronomy

 

[Drone]

More evidence:

Proxima b Could Be Habitable, Astrophysicists Say

According to a new study led by researcher at Marseille Astrophysics Laboratory, Proxima b could be a 'water world', with an ocean covering its entire surface.

 

[Nuckles56]

If they can prove that it is a habitable planet, then it might spark enough interest to get our space exploration programs properly funded rather than the joke they are now

 

[Folterknecht]

Wasn't Proxima b in a locked rotation from all we know so far? If I remember right that means, it's always showing the same side to it's sun (which itself is rather unsteady and violent). That alone would have several (neg.) consequences when it comes to an athmosphere and the chances for higher life forms outside of water (black smokers), which in return would make it (nearly) impossible to detect with our current tech.