NASA is making a big announcement about an exoplanet Thursday

[DaFace]

Press conference is tomorrow at 11am Central. And a ton of money just got thrown at SETI. Coincidence?

http://www.wired.co.uk/news/archive/...et-annoucement

Nasa may have found the most Earth-like planet to date

The US space agency is holding a press conference tomorrow, 23 July, to reveal the latest discoveries of its exoplanet-hunting Kepler Space Telescope. The scope, launched in 2009, seeks out planets that reside in the habitable zone, known colloquially as the Goldilocks zone. Planets in this location orbit their star at a safe enough distance to potentially host liquid water on their surface. The majority of the planets identified by Kepler have been giant gas planets, akin to Jupiter in our own Solar System, with only eight being less than twice Earth's size and in the Goldilocks zone. It's suspected that the Nasa announcement could confirm the identification of the most Earth-like planet to date.

"Exoplanets, especially small Earth-size worlds, belonged within the realm of science fiction just 21 years ago. Today, and thousands of discoveries later, astronomers are on the cusp of finding something people have dreamed about for thousands of years -- another Earth," a Nasa release teases, before confirming that Kepler's data analysis lead Jon Jenkins and Kepler research scientist Jeff Coughlin would be in attendance.

Kepler has already confirmed more than 1,000 exoplanets and 3,000 planet candidates using something called the transit method. The 0.95m-diameter telescope monitors the brightness of around 100,000 stars, looking for any dimming. That dimming occurs when a planet passes behind its star in orbit. Nasa compares that change in light to "the drop in brightness of a car's headlight when a fruitfly moves in front of it" -- hence, very few have been found to date. If Kepler identifies one instance, that is then repeated at regular intervals, a planet is confirmed. Planet size and temperature is estimated based on the intervals between transits, which in turn lets us know what the chances are it's habitable. The Kepler research team has also worked with crowdsourcing initiative Zooniverse to build Planet Hunters, a platform that allows the public to look for changes in brightness themselves.

Earlier this year Kepler found another eight new planets in the Goldilocks zone, doubling the number of exoplanets found that have a diameter less that double Earth's. "We're now closer than we've ever been for finding a twin for Earth," astronomer Fergal Mullally of the Kepler Science Office said at the time.

The two most Earth-like planets in this new discovery were named Kepler-438b and Kepler-442b, but both were larger than Earth and orbiting red dwarf stars far cooler than our own Sun. Nevertheless, it was calculated that the planets had a 60-70 percent chance of being rocky like Earth. This is one of the key factors planetary scientists seek out since, more often than not, the Earth-like exoplanets Kepler identifies are gaseous. The planets were given a 70 and 97 percent chance of being in the habitable zone, respectively. But like the "Earth-like" planets before them, both receive far more or less light than our own planet -- 40 percent more and two-thirds less respectively.

The fact that Nasa is holding a press conference on the news, rather than it being released to the public via research papers as has often been the case in the past, suggests the mission may have discovered a candidate that even more closely resembles our own planet.

[ptlyon]

Originally Posted by MagicHef

I've always been told not to look at the sun. Now I'm wondering why.

But mama, that's where the fun is

[ModSocks]

Originally Posted by MagicHef

I've always been told not to look at the sun. Now I'm wondering why.

You should go stare at it for about an hour, come back and tell us what you've discovered. You'll probably find that we've been lied to this whole time.

[ModSocks]

Originally Posted by Rain Man

It would be interesting to see the collision between aliens and devout religion.

I suspect that religion would survive relatively intact somehow. You look at dinosaurs and fossils, and they directly contraindicate statements in the Bible. I don't know a lot about this, so others may have a more informed opinion, but it seems to me like it changed the way a lot of reasonable and religious people interpreted the Bible, and they now read it more as an allegorical or metaphorical document than an actual "word of god" that is literal. Those folks would probably do the same in the case of aliens.

There's a second group of people who are Bible literalists. I don't know how they fit dinosaurs into that worldview because it's a pretty direct conflict, but I figure they'll fit aliens in the same way. For this group, the alien scenario has already happened, and their religious beliefs survived intact.

Originally Posted by RobBlake

the Bible account in the first chapter of Genesis simply states the general order of creation. It allows for possibly thousands of millions of years for the formation of the earth and many millenniums in six creative eras, or “days,” to prepare the earth for human habitation.
Some dinosaurs (and pterosaurs) may indeed have been created in the fifth era listed in Genesis, when the Bible says that God made “flying creatures” and “great sea monsters.” Perhaps other types of dinosaurs were created in the sixth epoch. The vast array of dinosaurs with their huge appetites would have been appropriate considering the abundant vegetation that evidently existed in their time.

Heh. That's pretty funny and his response illustrates your point perfectly.

Clearly, Religion would adapt and continue to thrive much like it is. They'll reinterpret the bible and adjust their interpretation accordingly.

I use to ask my grandparents that same question as a kid, "How come Dinosaurs aren't in the bible"?

They would tell me that Dinosaurs are in teh bible, they're just not referred to as Dinosaurs. They then pointed me to a passage about Giants roaming the earth (and iirc, those giants were suppose to be half man, half demon or some shit, i don't remember).

For Rob, apparently, in order to reinterpret, Days all of a sudden ACTUALLY means Millions of years....

[Sweet Daddy Hate]

Originally Posted by Detoxing

Heh. That's pretty funny and his response illustrates your point perfectly.

Clearly, Religion would adapt and continue to thrive much like it is. They'll reinterpret the bible and adjust their interpretation accordingly.

I use to ask my grandparents that same question as a kid, "How come Dinosaurs aren't in the bible"?

They would tell me that Dinosaurs are in teh bible, they're just not referred to as Dinosaurs. They then pointed me to a passage about Giants roaming the earth (and iirc, those giants were suppose to be half man, half demon or some shit, i don't remember).

For Rob, apparently, in order to reinterpret, Days all of a sudden ACTUALLY means Millions of years....

There are several references in scripture to the measure of time as observed by God. I argue with believers all the time about "7 days", because there are only so many ways you can explain concepts of time to a shepherd circa 2500 BC.

In the rejected texts, several types of "half man, half beast" creatures are mentioned.

[keg in kc]

The apocrypha are filled with all sorts of interesting stuff.

[Sweet Daddy Hate]

Originally Posted by keg in kc

The apocrypha are filled with all sorts of interesting stuff.

Indeed. Finished the 'Apocalypse of Thomas' last night. Whoa.

[Dave Lane]

Originally Posted by Rain Man

Quote from website:

First you have to understand that we might be part of a binary solar system. NASA just found a binary solar system last year. It would explain the earth’s wobble which is still unexplained today. Would it be too far off to believe that a planet can share both solar systems?


I may not be the most attentive guy in the world, but I'm certain that I would have noticed a second sun by now.

I've taken a couple photos at night. I'm pretty sure it would be... oh I don't know... like moderately visible.

[Dave Lane]

Originally Posted by Sweet Daddy Williams

Indeed. Finished the 'Apocalypse of Thomas' last night. Whoa.

Really ups the crazy quotient a bit doesn't it? I like Enoch myself.

[Hydrae]

Originally Posted by RustShack

So what was the announcement?

What if we go to this other world and they are so far behind in technology, and we are the aliens?

To we take it over and move them all to Oklahoma?

It is estimated that their star is about 1.5 billion years older than ours. They are probably on their 100th incarnation of civilization.

[Dave Lane]

Originally Posted by Rain Man

It would be interesting to see the collision between aliens and devout religion.

I suspect that religion would survive relatively intact somehow. You look at dinosaurs and fossils, and they directly contraindicate statements in the Bible. I don't know a lot about this, so others may have a more informed opinion, but it seems to me like it changed the way a lot of reasonable and religious people interpreted the Bible, and they now read it more as an allegorical or metaphorical document than an actual "word of god" that is literal. Those folks would probably do the same in the case of aliens.

There's a second group of people who are Bible literalists. I don't know how they fit dinosaurs into that worldview because it's a pretty direct conflict, but I figure they'll fit aliens in the same way. For this group, the alien scenario has already happened, and their religious beliefs survived intact.

Rationalization is a pretty powerful force.

I saw a minister that said: "If somewhere within the Bible I were to find a passage that said 2+2=5, I wouldn’t question what I’m reading in the Bible. I would believe it, accept it as true, and then do my best to work it out and to understand it.”

[Dave Lane]

Originally Posted by Hydrae

It is estimated that their star is about 1.5 billion years older than ours. They are probably on their 100th incarnation of civilization.

And the 1873rd SF QB.

[Dave Lane]

Originally Posted by ThaVirus

If that's the way it's gonna be Id rather be Cortés

You already are to him. Metaphorically of course.

[ThaVirus]

Originally Posted by Dave Lane

You already are to him. Metaphorically of course.

What do you mean? Because I'm not a native?

[Sweet Daddy Hate]

Originally Posted by Dave Lane

Really ups the crazy quotient a bit doesn't it? I like Enoch myself.

Enoch is a good read, but you're dealing with multiple authors being ascribed to one person.

[ThaVirus]

Creation is such a strange concept.

At first, there was nothing. Then, suddenly, there was something.