Tau Ceti: Sun-like star only twelve light years away may have a habitable planet

[kevindavis007]

(Phys.org)—An international team of astronomers has discovered that Tau Ceti, one of the closest and most Sun-like stars, may host five planets, including one in the star's habitable zone ('Goldilocks Zone').


At a distance of twelve light years from Earth and visible to the naked eye in the evening sky, Tau Ceti is the closest single star that has the same spectral classification as our Sun. Its five planets are estimated to have masses between two and six times the mass of the Earth, making it the lowest-mass planetary system yet detected. One of the planets lies in the star's habitable zone – the so-called Goldilocks Zone with it's 'just right' temperatures for supporting liquid water – and has a mass around five times that of Earth, making it the smallest planet found to be orbiting in the habitable zone of any Sun-like star.


Read more at: http://phys.org/news/2012-12-tau-ceti-sun-like-star-twelve.html#jCp

Well I was right...

[Chieftain]

Only twelve light years away......

Considering we haven't been beyond low earth orbit since the seventies........

[famousdayandyear]

So, if we started now, we could be at the Goldilocks part in..................................................................

[kevindavis007]

So, if we started now, we could be at the Goldilocks part in..................................................................

Well if we build a generational space ship, it could take a long time.. By the time the ship gets there, your great great great grandchildren will be colonizing the planet. FTL is the way to go.

[Chieftain]

Well if we build a generational space ship, it could take a long time.. By the time the ship gets there, your great great great grandchildren will be colonizing the planet. FTL is the way to go.

Except we haven't developed anything that can move at even a significant fraction of c, and until we do....and we need significantly more speed than just a fraction of c if we intend to get anywhere quickly or on a regular basis...

[Oceander]

Except we haven't developed anything that can move at even a significant fraction of c, and until we do....and we need significantly more speed than just a fraction of c if we intend to get anywhere quickly or on a regular basis...

Perhaps we'll get some mileage (pun intended) on that front out of the apparently-discovered Higgs boson?  If the field of which the Higgs is the quantum is responsible for giving elementary particles mass, then understanding the Higgs might reveal ways to sidestep the issue without having to turn one's self into pure photons.

[DCPatriot]

It's a hologram.......   

[Allegra]

I wonder if you can grow bacon there?

[Oceander]

40 acres and a mule?

[famousdayandyear]

What about some sort of communication system based on Optics?  We could try to "talk" before we "embark".  Just sayin

[Chieftain]

Every star out there has the potential for a "habitable zone" around it, that is easily calculated by the luminosity of the star.  Sol's habitable zone is approximately .95 to 1.5 AU (Astronomical Unit), an AU being the distance from Sol to Earth. 

If a star has large gas giants in it, those may possibly have moons that have habitable conditions as well, as the gas giant may radiate enough heat to allow liquid water, which is the agreed substance that must be present for any life to form.

It's a big universe out there.....

[Chieftain]

Perhaps we'll get some mileage (pun intended) on that front out of the apparently-discovered Higgs boson?  If the field of which the Higgs is the quantum is responsible for giving elementary particles mass, then understanding the Higgs might reveal ways to sidestep the issue without having to turn one's self into pure photons.

You would think with all of the money we have poured into CERN, they would have discovered some fundamental truths about the Higgs Boson by now, but they have not.  Despite the enormous amount of power that CERN generates, it has not yet been enough to create a boson, which makes a very strong case for not conducting these kinds of experiments on the surface of the earth...

[Oceander]

You would think with all of the money we have poured into CERN, they would have discovered some fundamental truths about the Higgs Boson by now, but they have not.  Despite the enormous amount of power that CERN generates, it has not yet been enough to create a boson, which makes a very strong case for not conducting these kinds of experiments on the surface of the earth...

Possibly, although the latest results appear to indicate that the boson may have been created.  Putting newer accelerators into outer space - or possibly on the dark side of the Moon, would be an interesting possibility.  It would reduce the amount of fine-tuning needed to correct for the distortions to the physical structure caused by the Earth's gravity and would make it easier to maintain the required vacuum inside the accelerator tunnels.  In any event, it takes a fantastic amount of energy to create these suckers, and they've been slowly ramping up the new accelerator, so perhaps we'll be seeing some more concrete results in a little bit.

[240B]

If a star has large gas giants in it, those may possibly have moons that have habitable conditions as well, as the gas giant may radiate enough heat to allow liquid water, which is the agreed substance that must be present for any life to form.

You are forgetting Star Trek Season 1 Episode 26 'The Devil in the Dark', where Captain Kirk and Spock encountered the Horta which was a silicon based lifeform.

Horta says, NO KILL I.

In Season 3, Episode 22 'The Savage Curtain', Kirk and Spock dealt with the Excalbians, which were molten lava based lifeforms.


Yarnek says, Which is stronger, Good or Evil?

Anyway, the bottom line is you obviously don't need water for every form of life, just most forms of life.