The Observer Posted December 6, 2011 Share Posted December 6, 2011 http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/45554786#.Tt1ZafKwW1c MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif. — NASA's planet-hunting Kepler spacecraft has confirmed the discovery of its first alien world in its host star's habitable zone — that just-right range of distances that could allow liquid water to exist — and found more than 1,000 new explanet candidates, researchers announced today (Dec. 5). The new finds bring the Kepler space telescope's total haul to 2,326 potential planets in its first 16 months of operation.These discoveries, if confirmed, would quadruple the current tally of worlds known to exist beyond our solar system, which recently topped 700.The potentially habitable alien world, a first for Kepler, orbits a star very much like our own sun. The discovery brings scientists one step closer to finding a planet like our own — one which could conceivably harbor life, scientists said."We're getting closer and closer to discovering the so-called 'Goldilocks planet,'" Pete Worden, director of NASA's Ames Research Center in Moffett Field, Calif., said during a press conference today. [ Gallery: The Strangest Alien Planets ] The newfound planet in the habitable zone is called Kepler-22b. It is located about 600 light-years away, orbiting a sun-like star.Kepler-22b's radius is 2.4 times that of Earth, and the two planets have roughly similar temperatures. If the greenhouse effect operates there similarly to how it does on Earth, the average surface temperature on Kepler-22b would be 72 degrees Fahrenheit (22 degrees Celsius). Full story in the link. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zeno Posted December 6, 2011 Share Posted December 6, 2011 neat, also the link is broken for at least firefox Stats[hide][/hide]Click for my adventurer's log Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skull Posted December 6, 2011 Share Posted December 6, 2011 It makes me sad that I, barring some extremely rapid advances in technology, will never be able to visit a planet like this if we ever find one that is habitable. I personally think it would be incredible to get that chance, especially if there is life on said planet. Although at the same time I'm glad we can't, since humans would inevitably destroy the planet. And yeah, the link is broken. [bleep] the law, they can eat my dick that's word to Pimp Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Observer Posted December 6, 2011 Author Share Posted December 6, 2011 Fixed the link. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Riku3220 Posted December 6, 2011 Share Posted December 6, 2011 Great, now all we have to do is create a couple of mass relays to transport ourselves instantly from here to there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PoorLepRecon Posted December 6, 2011 Share Posted December 6, 2011 It's sad that we will never get to see if life does in fact exist on that planet, but it's cool to hear that it is possible. Forum Updates & Suggestions <------ Let your voice be heard!Forum Games <------- Coolest place on Tip.ItTip.It Forum Rules <------- Read them! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alg Posted December 6, 2011 Share Posted December 6, 2011 Great, now all we have to do is create a couple of mass relays to transport ourselves instantly from here to there.Indeed. First stop is Mars :razz: In all seriousness, there have been a lot of very cool discoveries in the past few months. I painted some stuff and put it on tumblr Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kaida23 Posted December 6, 2011 Share Posted December 6, 2011 Great, now all we have to do is create a couple of mass relays to transport ourselves instantly from here to there.Indeed. First stop is Mars :razz: Why Mars? Why not Venus, it's closer. :P I have to echo Skull's disappointment that we'll never get to see places like that in our lifetimes. Still, I'm hopeful that my android will be ready for consciousness transference before it's too late. :grin: Check out my blog to read the Adventures of a Big Damn (F2P) Hero. THE place for all free players to connect, hang out and talk about how awesome it is to be F2P. So, Kaida is the real version of every fictional science-badass? That explains a lot, actually... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Riku3220 Posted December 6, 2011 Share Posted December 6, 2011 Great, now all we have to do is create a couple of mass relays to transport ourselves instantly from here to there.Indeed. First stop is Mars :razz: Why Mars? Why not Venus, it's closer. :P In Mass Effect, the information that led humans to find the mass relay was found on Mars. But we already know that the mass relay is Pluto's moon Charon so we might as well just skip to that part. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RpgGamer Posted December 6, 2011 Share Posted December 6, 2011 Good, now we can trash Earth and move onto Kepler-22b. I hope they rename it at some point. I like the greek mythology names, but I feel like "Kepler-22b" is ugly-modern. Not that we have any new gods we're worshiping these days [no I'm not suggesting we rename it "Flying Spaghetti Monster" Quote Quote Anyone who likes tacos is incapable of logic. Anyone who likes logic is incapable of tacos. PSA: SaqPrets is an Estonian Dude Steam: NippleBeardTM Origin: Brand_New_iPwn Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tesset Posted December 6, 2011 Share Posted December 6, 2011 no I'm not suggesting we rename it "Flying Spaghetti Monster""Oh yeah, I live on planet Pasta in the FSM galaxy. How about you?" "Well, my parents were from Earth, but we moved to Allah when I was like 3. It's pretty crazy. I had this friend who used to live on God, he said things were pretty insane there. He'd never seen a cat before." (I don't know any Hindu gods I'm sorry.) My skin is finally getting softI'll scrub until the damn thing comes off Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Riku3220 Posted December 6, 2011 Share Posted December 6, 2011 no I'm not suggesting we rename it "Flying Spaghetti Monster""Oh yeah, I live on planet Pasta in the FSM galaxy. How about you?" "Well, my parents were from Earth, but we moved to Allah when I was like 3. It's pretty crazy. I had this friend who used to live on God, he said things were pretty insane there. He'd never seen a cat before." (I don't know any Hindu gods I'm sorry.)Here's my favorite Hindu god. (The only one I actually know) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shiva We could also go Egyptian. Ra, Horus, Osiris, and the others. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Range_This11 Posted December 6, 2011 Share Posted December 6, 2011 I hope we are never able to reach or inhabit any of these planets, we'll just destroy their ecosystems anyways. "He could climb to it, if he climbed alone, and once there he could suck on the pap of life, gulp down the incomparable milk of wonder." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
obfuscator Posted December 6, 2011 Share Posted December 6, 2011 Good stuff. Pity we're quite a ways away from being able to get there :P "It's not a rest for me, it's a rest for the weights." - Dom Mazzetti Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Atom Smash40 Posted December 6, 2011 Share Posted December 6, 2011 "The surest sign of intelligent life is that none of it has tried to contact us." ~ 3,072nd to 99 Mining on August 30th, 2009 ~~ 112,084th to 99 Magic on April 16th, 2011 ~~ 131,681st to 99 Crafting on March 29, 2019 ~~ 178,385th to 99 Prayer on April 2, 2019 ~~ 234,921st to 99 Defence on May 9, 2019 ~~ 173,480th to 99 Herblore on June 21, 2019 ~~ 155,160th to 99 Smithing on July 16, 2019 ~ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alg Posted December 7, 2011 Share Posted December 7, 2011 "The surest sign of intelligent life is that none of it has tried to contact us."For all we know, their philosophers are saying the same thing. I painted some stuff and put it on tumblr Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vezon Dash Posted December 7, 2011 Share Posted December 7, 2011 600 light years away? Too bad that we can't even get close to the speed of light. It would take probably 40x 600 years to reach that planet. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kirschen Posted December 7, 2011 Share Posted December 7, 2011 Nice discovery, but I don't think it's worth even trying to focus on it at all since there is no way we'd be able to visit it at all. The last things humans need is another planet to put our problems on. @God_Himself: I loved that quote. :lol: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vezon Dash Posted December 7, 2011 Share Posted December 7, 2011 It is funny how I read this topic then suddenly had an urge to watch Wall-E. I watched it, and now I realize why I wanted to watch it so bad. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
i_love_burritos Posted December 7, 2011 Share Posted December 7, 2011 im in mountain view, CA right now los altos / surrounding area nasa and lockheed have big bases here ^ irrelevant but eh Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Danqazmlp Posted December 7, 2011 Share Posted December 7, 2011 Surely by the time we are advanced enough to reach said planet we wil be advanced enough to be very eco friendly. Want to be my friend? Look under my name to the left<<< and click the 'Add as friend' button!Big thanks to Stevepole for the signature!^ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
obfuscator Posted December 7, 2011 Share Posted December 7, 2011 It's kind of overwhelming to think that even if we somehow managed to travel as fast as the speed of light it would take 25 generations just to get to this planet. "It's not a rest for me, it's a rest for the weights." - Dom Mazzetti Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bier Posted December 7, 2011 Share Posted December 7, 2011 It's kind of overwhelming to think that even if we somehow managed to travel as fast as the speed of light it would take 25 generations just to get to this planet.If the people going there would travel close to the speed of light very little time would pass for them. Of course it would take a long time for those staying on Earth. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now