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Wednesday, August 31, 2016

4.22 Light-Years Away

Science Daily: Proxima b is in host star's habitable zone, but could it really be habitable?
summary - The world's attention is now on Proxima Centauri b, a possibly Earth-like planet orbiting the closest star, 4.22 light-years away. The planet's orbit is just right to allow liquid water on its surface, needed for life. But could it in fact be habitable? If so, the planet evolved very differently than Earth, say researchers say astronomers, geophysicists, climatologists, evolutionary biologists and others who study how distant planets might host life.

2 comments:

Glynn Kalara said...

There are probably other planets in the Alpha Centurai triple star system of which Proxima C is the smallest coolest star and closest to earth. The problem with Proxima B is its probably tidally locked around Proxima which has one face facing the star all the time like th moon to Earth. Scientists are looking for the other planets in this system and my bet is another one will turn out to be a better bet for life. Oh Alpha A is almost a dead ringer for our sun ( a G2 star) so if it has any planets in the habitable zone there's a good bet they'll have water on the surface. We'll see.

Jim Sande said...

What technology will get us there? They say the humans that go to Mars to establish a colony will be the ones. That model of human being will do it somehow.