11–19 of 19 posts
Article: "slight changes in Tau Ceti's motion through space suggest that the star may be responding to gravitational tugs from five planets that are only about two to seven times as massive as Earth"
After reading article: "I was wrong, there wasn't even a confirmed planet involved."
If we can reach 10% of the speed of light in a few hundred years, maybe at that time we can have one-way missions like the suggested Mars trips now. Such a trip might require a fusion power source though.
If we can reach 10% of the speed of light in a few hundred years, maybe at that time we can have one-way missions like the suggested Mars trips now. Such a trip might require a fusion power source though.
Wonder what crew size you would need to ensure genetic stability and the certainty that the crew would hang in there until the destination. It couldn't be a democratic arrangement onboard for sure.
Before reading article: "Earth-like, eh. This is going to be yet another one of those link bait articles identifying a gas giant closely orbiting some sun as being earth-like." Article: "slight changes in Tau Ceti's motion through space suggest that the star may be responding to gravitational tugs from five planets that are only about two to seven times as massive as Earth" After reading article: "I was wrong, there…
The only way to figure out whether star has any planets around is to measure and interpret periodical gravitational vibrations.
Before reading article: "Earth-like, eh. This is going to be yet another one of those link bait articles identifying a gas giant closely orbiting some sun as being earth-like." Article: "slight changes in Tau Ceti's motion through space suggest that the star may be responding to gravitational tugs from five planets that are only about two to seven times as massive as Earth" After reading article: "I was wrong, there…
when you are looking that far away, you can't see any planets. They are not light source like stars. The only way to figure out whether star has any planets around is to measure and interpret periodical gravitational vibrations.
If I did my calculations right then at 17,000 mph it would take 474,568.57 years to get there.
Before reading article: "Earth-like, eh. This is going to be yet another one of those link bait articles identifying a gas giant closely orbiting some sun as being earth-like." Article: "slight changes in Tau Ceti's motion through space suggest that the star may be responding to gravitational tugs from five planets that are only about two to seven times as massive as Earth" After reading article: "I was wrong, there…
when you are looking that far away, you can't see any planets. They are not light source like stars. The only way to figure out whether star has any planets around is to measure and interpret periodical gravitational vibrations.
Apologies for being a pedant
Earlier quoted context omitted.
when you are looking that far away, you can't see any planets. They are not light source like stars. The only way to figure out whether star has any planets around is to measure and interpret periodical gravitational vibrations.
You are of course right about 1 of the 3 methods of finding planets around distant stars but I feel droithomme was more commenting on the total disconnect between the post title and the actual discovery which is nothing like 'earth-like planet discovered around a star 12 light years away'. Apologies for being a pedant
The details in the article came down to they were pulling signal out from deep within noise in a way that other planet finders were skeptical of: "They're really digging deep into the noise here. The community is going to find it hard to accept planet discoveries from signals so deeply embedded in noise."
Even the researchers themselves are quoted as saying they don't consider anything here proven, they are just seeing if anyone else wants to have a go at finding further confirmation or disproof: "We felt that the best thing to do was to put the result out there and see if somebody can either independently confirm it or shoot it down."
The researchers themselves have not made the claim of finding an earth like planet around Tau Ceti at all. It's not been established or accepted by experts in the field that there are planets around this sun, what their orbits are, their composition, or that they are "earth-like" in a way that any non-specialist reader would interpret "earth-like". Even the authors don't make those claims. Maybe someday those things will be confirmed or disproved. Today is not that day.
The journalist is aware of this too. At the end of the article he says "If the planets exist...", acknowledging it is not established at all, before then engaging in fanciful speculation that is unlikely to appear in a reputable science news source with a competent editor: "That may just explain why no one from Tau Ceti has ever contacted beings as primitive as us."