Dusty Disc May Mean Other Earths 289
DoraLives writes "According to the BBC, astronomers say they have evidence for Earth-like planets orbiting a nearby star. The star in question is Vega, which is nice and close (as stars go), quite young (also as stars go), and one of the brightest stars in the sky. Apparently, 'Vega has a disc of dust circling it, and at least one large planet which could sweep debris aside allowing smaller worlds like Earth to exist.' Should be interesting to keep an eye on it as the years roll by as the disk rotates and our optical powers keep growing."
Re:to bad we're looking in the past (Score:1, Insightful)
Another thing to consider: (Score:5, Insightful)
The likelihood of other meaningful life in the Universe just got better. And I for one welcome the possibility.
Contact (Score:2, Insightful)
Re:to bad we're looking in the past (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:Soon... (Score:4, Insightful)
It would be like the pilgrims landing in the US. Complete colonization one way or other. Not much scope for an arms race...
S
Life imitates art (Score:2, Insightful)
If astronomy was any other field of science... (Score:2, Insightful)
Seriously, there's a chance that a big planet might have cleared enough space so as to not preclude the existence of a planet the same size as ours
CALL THE PRESIDENT! THE ALIENS ARE COMING!!
Ok, ok people, no Aliens... (Score:4, Insightful)
1 - Vega is 25 light-years away. That's around the corner and "today" in astronomical terms
2 - Carl Sagan picked Vega not because of planets, but because there were none, just a bunch of dust... There was a RELAY there, not aliens...
3 - The news actually said about process that could happen; a balance between a dusty ring and an outer planet...
Re:Maybe Schmaybe One Billion, Blah (Score:3, Insightful)
What makes you believe that you/we are the most intelligent and important civillisation in the universe? The universe is pretty big, and that's a very arrogant assumption to make.
Vega is too big and to young (Score:5, Insightful)
Wow... (Score:2, Insightful)
Nothing like watching planets form (Score:3, Insightful)
Yes, because the 1st billion years (or so, give or take a couple hundred million) of Earth's existance were oh so exciting. And don't even get me started about the 2nd billion! Wow!
And the third billion... oh, my, god!
As the years roll by? What is that supposed to mean? That maybe, we might be lucky enough to see a planet form over the next 100 million generations or so? Wooppee!
I'll be excited when someone turns that slideshow into an animated GIF, ok?
Re:Vega is too big and to young (Score:2, Insightful)
Re:Vega is too big and to young (Score:2, Insightful)
-This could mean an opportunity to observe the very transition from a "pre-DNA world" (based om RNA or even more primitive genetic substrates) to a "DNA world" -this is itself probably even more interesting than watching the planet-forming process around Vega.
Re:Another thing to consider: (Score:3, Insightful)
But the search for ET life is just that, a search for life, not humans - we cannot say that life can only be found on earth like planets, we can't even say that in our solar system life can only be found on earth, it's entirely possible that there is life on other celestial bodies in our neighbourhood.
Even if we take the search for intelligent ET life, it's still a search for an unknown life in an unknown environment, so the fixation on earth-like planets is silly.
Far to often I think we assume that ET life must be like earth life, IMHO it's fairly unlikely, considering the (as far as is known) small percentage of planets that are earth like.
Same as if we were looking for "any" life on earth, where do you look, well, everywhere you don't limit yourself to anything in particular because life can't exist there - it can, life can exist (almost) anywhere on earth, so why not anywhere in the universe?
There is one advantage in looking for earth like planets, they could become useful to our distant descendants in the future, probably as a destination for a many-generational ship.
you may be wrong on several accounts (Score:3, Insightful)
I think the real threat to our planet is ourselves, not our sun.
I think you ment biosphere, not planet
Thus, I hope we do not find a backup planet. I hope this is it.
If we foul our planet to the point it is unlivable, we deserve our fate.
First, IMHO this is utterly wrong factually: once a society colonizes
space, all it'll need is energy and materials. I suggest that actually
there may be few solar systems which are completely uninhabitable.
Second, from the pragmatic POV, this sounds to me like morality gone
completely insane: are you truly sugesting that you'd willfully risk
total genocide for humanity (and its surrounding biological system, BTW)
just because you think we "deserve it" ?
That's the largest-scale suicidal philosophy I have ever seen.
Not, of course, that I am in any position to affect change on this issue. Either a habitable planet is in range or not. Either we find it, or not.
Wrong. In fact, for a single individual, a researcher may be in one
of the best positions to affect humanity's future course.
Certainly we should try.
To this I agree
I just hope it is not too easy to leave Earth for the rich and powerful.
Why not ? if it'll easy for them in several decades, it'll probably
be easy for others later.
And anyway, don't worry. Space travel is going to be risky buisness
for a long time. If a rich and powerful person is willing to take on
personal risks to explore a new fronteer, he/she'll probably be
exactly the kind of person needed up there.