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http://www.independent.co.uk/news/scien ... 93941.html

The sun, named TRAPPIST-1, has enough hydrogen to burn for 10 trillion years. When our sun expands into a red giant in about 5 billion years it will be a place we may want to consider moving to. [:D]

Exciting news indeed! One I will be following...[:)]

I've signed up for the first colony. Oooops, how many years will it take to travel to one? Looks like I will die in transit. But its interesting, for sure. What is disappointing is their will not be a probe to land on one of those planets before I die. But future generations will have that first hand knowledge. There will most likely be a better fuel to send a probe faster as well

I have a few Hollywood celebs I would pay to be on the first rocket to these planets.

ORIGINAL: Zap

I've signed up for the first colony. Oooops, how many years will it take to travel to one? Looks like I will die in transit. But its interesting, for sure. What is disappointing is their will not be a probe to land on one of those planets before I die. But future generations will have that first hand knowledge. There will most likely be a better fuel to send a probe faster as well

I am always slightly jealous of those future people that will take the incredible for granted. When I was a child in the 70s I imagined people would be living a Star Trek/Star Wars sort of existence when I was grown up but that didn't happen.

Man will have died out long before that.

"TRAPPIST-1 “burns hydrogen so slowly that it will live for another 10 trillion years – more than 700 times longer than the Universe has existed so far, which is arguably enough time for life to evolve”

So it will last 700 times longer than the universe has existed for far, and the author added "which is arguably enough time for life to evolve" [:D]

The problem with planets in the habitable zone of these very low mass stars is that they are very often tidally locked. That is, like our Moon they rotate once per orbit, and hence always present the same "face" to the larger body. This doesn't preclude life, but it's more difficult to see how it could evolve. There may be a mild twilight region between the two sides, but there are still likely to be intense winds. People talk blithely about how "There must be alien life", without realising what a favourable place Earth is.

I'd like to agree with them, and I'm aware of the potential number of planets but we need evidence. Earth is just the right distance from just the right kind of star and it's just the right size with just the right sized moon etc etc. Also, it appears our solar system is highly unusual. Refer to the Fermi Paradox.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fermi_paradox

TRAPPIST-1 is only 39.5 light years away, which is next door in astronomical terms. The next generation of telescopes will observe it intensely. The James Webb Space Telescope, the replacement for Hubble, should be launched next year. After that will be the European Extremely Large Telescope, in Chile, with a 39m primary mirror. These incredible telescopes will potentially have the power to resolve Earth-sized planets around nearby stars. TRAPPIST-1 is dim, which really helps, as a bright star tends to drown out its planets with its light.

The holy grail is to detect oxygen or ozone (formed from oxygen) in a planetary atmosphere. These telescopes will potentially do that, if it's there. Oxygen is so reactive that it's difficult to see how it can be in the atmosphere in quantity unless something is pumping it in. On Earth, that's plants.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Web ... _Telescope

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/European_ ... _Telescope

Below is the James Webb Space Telescope's primary mirror.

Cheers, Neilster

ORIGINAL: Qwixt

"TRAPPIST-1 “burns hydrogen so slowly that it will live for another 10 trillion years – more than 700 times longer than the Universe has existed so far, which is arguably enough time for life to evolve”

So it will last 700 times longer than the universe has existed for far, and the author added "which is arguably enough time for life to evolve" [:D]

Perhaps by then the Gorn will have moved (see AAR forum). [:D]

ORIGINAL: demjansk

I have a few Hollywood celebs I would pay to be on the first rocket to these planets.

haha lol. Justin Bieber?

Saw this news on Google's doodle yesterday. Exciting stuff.

I did not think of the next generation telescope. If they are a great improvement over the preset Hubble the pictures from these will be the closest our generation will get to looking into deep space.

ORIGINAL: Zap

I did not think of the next generation telescope. If they are a great improvement over the preset Hubble the pictures from these will be the closest our generation will get to looking into deep space.

They are going to be a huge improvement. Hubble has a primary mirror with a diameter of 2.4m. James Webb has 6.5m, has much improved electronics and will be in a far superior position in space, far from the Earth.

The largest ground-based optical telescopes in the world are in the 10 metre class. The European Extremely large Telescope will have a primary mirror of 39.3m. "First light" is planned for 2024. This gives some idea of its size.

Cheers, Neilster

Let us hope the new telescopes don't have defective mirrors.[;)]


Thanks for the info, Neilster. Very interesting.

ORIGINAL: XXXCorps

Let us hope the new telescopes don't have defective mirrors.[;)]


Thanks for the info, Neilster. Very interesting.

Yes, that was a monumental cock-up but they gave it a pair of glasses and Hubble's been a phenomenally successful science machine with plenty more to give.

Cheers, Neilster