NASA announces discovery of Earth-like planet with earth similarity index 0.98 • Hacker News Board

Re: NASA announces discovery of Earth-like planet with earth similarity index 0.98

#21

Post by EA » Thu, Jul 23, 2015, 1:02 PM UTC

qntty wrote: post #13

Here are some other planets we've found with comparable similarity. Note that earth-like similarity does not imply that it is habitable. http://phl.upr.edu/projects/habitable-exoplanets-catalog/dat...

A few zones some think need to overlap and be dialed-in to come close to offering a habitable place:

water habitable zone

ultraviolet habitable zone

photosynthetic habitable zone

ozone habitable zone

planetary rotation rate habitable zone

planetary obliquity habitable zone

tidal habitable zone

astrosphere habitable zone

Re: NASA announces discovery of Earth-like planet with earth similarity index 0.98

#22

Post by [deleted] » Thu, Jul 23, 2015, 1:02 PM UTC

[deleted]

Re: NASA announces discovery of Earth-like planet with earth similarity index 0.98

#23

Post by rndn » Thu, Jul 23, 2015, 1:05 PM UTC

joshontheweb wrote: post #16

wrboyce wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

For those who also dislike timezone-juggling: http://time.is/1200_23_July_2015_in_EDT?http://www.nasa.gov/...

Thanks for sharing that. I've been looking for something like this. Traveling and juggling meetings in multiple timezones is a big source of anxiety for me. I'm always wondering if I did the math wrong or if there is a daylight savings I haven't accounted for.

There are actually plenty of tools for problems related to timezones, for example here is one for finding the best time for Skype conferences: http://www.timeanddate.com/worldclock/meeting.html

Re: NASA announces discovery of Earth-like planet with earth similarity index 0.98

#24

Post by rndn » Thu, Jul 23, 2015, 1:09 PM UTC

In case you have questions about exoplanets, there is an ongoing AMA by exoplanet researchers on /r/science: https://www.reddit.com/r/science/comments/3ebavu/science_ama...

(They mention the upcoming announcement, but they don’t know know what it is about either.)

Re: NASA announces discovery of Earth-like planet with earth similarity index 0.98

#25

Post by slayed0 » Thu, Jul 23, 2015, 1:09 PM UTC

wrboyce wrote: post #6

allcentury wrote: post #3

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think the announcement is live at noon today (EST).

For those who also dislike timezone-juggling: http://time.is/1200_23_July_2015_in_EDT?http://www.nasa.gov/...

Now can you link one that uses the ISO 8601 date standard, for those of us who also dislike date juggling?

Re: NASA announces discovery of Earth-like planet with earth similarity index 0.98

#26

Post by haarts » Thu, Jul 23, 2015, 1:11 PM UTC

It's interesting to note that the highest ESI so far has been Kepler-62e with a score of 0.83 (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Earth_Similarity_Index). So a score of 0.98 would seem significant.

Re: NASA announces discovery of Earth-like planet with earth similarity index 0.98

#27

Post by _jomo » Thu, Jul 23, 2015, 1:12 PM UTC

Accessing this with HTTPS Everywhere and Firefox leads to http://www.ustream.tv/embed/9407922 being blocked, so you don't see anything other than the text.

However, The stream has reached "maximum capacity" at this time.

Re: NASA announces discovery of Earth-like planet with earth similarity index 0.98

#28

Post by hdevalence » Thu, Jul 23, 2015, 1:12 PM UTC

panglott wrote: post #20

waterlesscloud wrote: post #7

What's an "earth similarity index"? Is there a definition somewhere?

Indeed, "earth similarity" should not be taken as "potential habitability", if Earth's unique geological history (the Theia collision) means that it is at the lower bound of mass for a habitable planet. Already there are super-Earths discovered. https://www.cfa.harvard.edu/news/2008-02

Why would the Theia collision mean that we're at the lower bound of mass for a habitable planet? What does the moon do that would be compensated for by having a larger planet?

Re: NASA announces discovery of Earth-like planet with earth similarity index 0.98

#29

Post by jMyles » Thu, Jul 23, 2015, 1:17 PM UTC

Whenever my imagination starts to run wild with the possibility of a huge announcement of this variety, I always like to remember what Terence McKenna said about this: "if aliens were to land on the front lawn of the white house tomorrow, it would not change the fact that the weirdest thing in the universe is DMT."

Re: NASA announces discovery of Earth-like planet with earth similarity index 0.98

#30

Post by motoboi » Thu, Jul 23, 2015, 1:19 PM UTC

jMyles wrote: post #29

Whenever my imagination starts to run wild with the possibility of a huge announcement of this variety, I always like to remember what Terence McKenna said about this: "if aliens were to land on the front lawn of the white house tomorrow, it would not change the fact that the weirdest thing in the universe is DMT."

Could you elaborate on what is so weird on that molecule?