CAPSLOCKSTUCK
Spaced Out Lunar Tick
- Joined
- Feb 26, 2013
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- 8,578 (2.11/day)
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- llaregguB...WALES
| System Name | Party On |
|---|---|
| Processor | Xeon w 3520 |
| Motherboard | DFI Lanparty |
| Cooling | Big tower thing |
| Memory | 6 gb Ballistix Tracer |
| Video Card(s) | HD 7970 |
| Case | a plank of wood |
| Audio Device(s) | seperate amp and 6 big speakers |
| Power Supply | Corsair |
| Mouse | cheap |
| Keyboard | under going restoration |
Proxima b
It is the closest exoplanet we could ever discover, and experts say missions to the planet to search for signs of life could be feasible 'within our lifetime'.
Astronomers have found clear evidence that our nearest star, Proxima Centauri, is the sun to another Earth-like world.
The group of researchers, using the European Southern Observatory (ESO) telescopes, have named the exciting world Proxima b.
Proxima b is only 4.6 million miles (7.5 million km) from the star, 5 per cent of the distance between the Earth and the sun, and takes just 11.2 days to complete one orbit. It is around 1.3 times as massive as Earth.
But because Proxima Centauri is a dim red dwarf star radiating much less heat than the sun, it still occupies the 'habitable zone' where temperatures are mild enough to permit liquid surface water.
The temperature on the surface of the planet could be between -90° and 30° Celsius (-130 and 86 Fahrenheit).
On the other hand, the planet is blasted by powerful ultraviolet rays and X-rays from the star. Any life that evolved on its surface would have to be hardened against the radiation.
Two separate papers have been published today, describing the habitability of Proxima b and its climate.
The papers find the existence of liquid water on the planet today 'cannot be ruled out'.
This means water may be present over the surface of the planet. But it would only be in the sunniest regions, either in an area in the hemisphere of the planet facing the star.
A team called Pale Red Dot is behind the discovery, which includes researchers from the University of Hertfordshire, Queen Mary University of London, the Instituto de Astrofísica de Andalucía in Granada, Spain and the University of Göttingen in Germany, among others.
The researchers used the High Accuracy Radial velocity Planet Searcher (HARPS), an instrument on the European Southern Observatory's 3.6-metre La Silla telescope in Chile's Atacama Desert.
The telescope measured light from Proxima, the fingerprints that reveal what the star is made of.
Small shifts in the frequency of the starlight can be used to work out tiny movements of the star in response to an orbiting planet's gravitational pull.
It is the closest exoplanet we could ever discover, and experts say missions to the planet to search for signs of life could be feasible 'within our lifetime'.
Astronomers have found clear evidence that our nearest star, Proxima Centauri, is the sun to another Earth-like world.
The group of researchers, using the European Southern Observatory (ESO) telescopes, have named the exciting world Proxima b.
Proxima b is only 4.6 million miles (7.5 million km) from the star, 5 per cent of the distance between the Earth and the sun, and takes just 11.2 days to complete one orbit. It is around 1.3 times as massive as Earth.
But because Proxima Centauri is a dim red dwarf star radiating much less heat than the sun, it still occupies the 'habitable zone' where temperatures are mild enough to permit liquid surface water.
The temperature on the surface of the planet could be between -90° and 30° Celsius (-130 and 86 Fahrenheit).
On the other hand, the planet is blasted by powerful ultraviolet rays and X-rays from the star. Any life that evolved on its surface would have to be hardened against the radiation.
Two separate papers have been published today, describing the habitability of Proxima b and its climate.
The papers find the existence of liquid water on the planet today 'cannot be ruled out'.
This means water may be present over the surface of the planet. But it would only be in the sunniest regions, either in an area in the hemisphere of the planet facing the star.
A team called Pale Red Dot is behind the discovery, which includes researchers from the University of Hertfordshire, Queen Mary University of London, the Instituto de Astrofísica de Andalucía in Granada, Spain and the University of Göttingen in Germany, among others.
The researchers used the High Accuracy Radial velocity Planet Searcher (HARPS), an instrument on the European Southern Observatory's 3.6-metre La Silla telescope in Chile's Atacama Desert.
The telescope measured light from Proxima, the fingerprints that reveal what the star is made of.
Small shifts in the frequency of the starlight can be used to work out tiny movements of the star in response to an orbiting planet's gravitational pull.
