'Earth 2.0' Discovered
In addition to the thousands of anecdotal accounts of extraterrestrial life, science today got a little more hopeful of finding life elsewhere. The discovery of exoplanet Kepler-452b has scientists describing it as "Earth 2.0."
A press conference hosted by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) took place simultaneously today in both California and Washington, D.C. A video released by that agency and distributed by CBC News (below), is narrated John Grunsfeld, a NASA administrator who has also been involved in the recent Pluto flyby. Also providing facts was John Jenkins of Ames Research Center in California. The men announced "the closest twin" to humanity's home, Earth, one they informally refer to as Earth 2.0.
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That space-bound telescope was launched in 2009 with the specific purpose of locating Earth-like planets outside the solar system.
As he said during last week's flyby of Pluto, John Grunsfeld reminded the press that NASA's mission is to "innovate, discover, explore and inspire." He expressed certainty that "this discovery that is announced today is going to inspire all of you."
Kepler-452b and its star—Kepler-452—are 1,400 light years away. They are “the nearest thing to an Earth-Sun analog, a twin system to our own.”
The star is of the same general temperature and type as the Sun, which is labeled in the stellar classification system as of the type G2. Kepler-452 is 10 percent larger and “somewhat” older than the Sun.
A year on the planet—the time it takes to orbit its star—is 385 days, just 20 days more than the Earth. No information was provided about the actual length of time of one day on Kepler-452b.
The exoplanet is only five percent further from its star (which is 20 percent brighter than the Sun) than Earth is from the
Some people believe we are not alone in the wide variety of planets, stars, and the solar system next door to us. Believing we aren’t the only ones stuck in space, but having more power than us where they might watch over us. The strong belief created a phenomenon more than the sci-fi culture itself; government cover-ups can’t hide these visitors anymore.
Edwin Hubble’s exemplary work has revolutionized the way that scientists and astronomers presently look at the universe. After serving in World War I, Hubble accepted a position at California’s Mount Wilson Observatory to help build the Hooker telescope, at the time, world’s largest telescope measuring 2.5 meters or 100 inches. Following the completion of the Hooker telescope, Hubble ...
Although this planet has a similar name than the previous one, it is much closer to Earth. This planet is 470 light years away from Earth, and is around 12 percent larger than it. Scientists
Kepler’s primary mission is to discover extrasolar planets within a habitable zone that have sizes relatively similar to that of Earth’s; previous planetary research detected giant planets that were much more massive than Earth. In addition to detection, Kepler is designed to examine the planets and stars that reside in the Earth-like planet’s system. Analysis includes how many planets and stars are in the system, orbit ranges, masses, densities, and whether there are any giant planets in the system. According to the NASA Exoplanet Archive, Kepler has found 961 confirmed exoplanets in more than 76 stellar systems, as well as 2,903 unconfirmed planets.
In conclusion, the discoveries of the Kepler mission have raised questions in many different fields about the possibility of extraterrestrial life. As we come to understand our universe more, the future of astronomy is beginning to resemble science fiction. All things considered, the field of astronomy is coming closer to achieving even more progress and possibly finding an answer to this perplexing question. For now, Kepler’s planetary candidates are under examination. The results are thrilling for not only science, but for human civilization.
Although Pluto was discovered in 1930, limited information on the distant planet delayed a realistic understanding of its characteristics. Today Pluto remains the only planet that has not been visited by a spacecraft, yet an increasing amount of information is unfolding about this peculiar planet. The uniqueness of Pluto's orbit, rotational relationship with its satellite, spin axis, and light variations all give the planet a certain appeal.
The mission of Breakthrough Initiatives, which includes such names as Stephen Hawking, Mark Zuckerberg, Yuri Milner, founder of DST Global, as board members, is to search for extraterrestrial life beyond this solar system. And so the organization will be providing a large fraction of the necessary technologies and development costs for this VISIR experiment; and the European Southern Observatory will be providing the telescope, technology, and
It is without a doubt that the most fascinating thing about space is the possibility of life elsewhere beside Earth. It is estimated that the Milky Way Galaxy itself contains about 300 billion stars. Each star contains planets and some planets might even have moons. With these findings, the question is no longer whether life exists elsewhere. The probability that Earth is the only place where life exists in the universe is far too slim. NASA has identified many planets that have similar conditions to Earth but most of these planets are hundreds of light years away so traveling there to find out if there’s any living organism is not easy. Luckily, scientific evidences have pointed out that one of the moons of Jupiter, Europa, could be one of the places where life can exist. If the theories proposed by astronomers about Europa are true, life on Europa might not even be entirely different than life near the bottom of Earth’s oceans.
As we continue to extend out reach to the outer solar system, we are constantly learning more and more about Pluto. While the information that astronomers have is limited, every piece helps them to make further hypothesis about the planet. In just a short time Astronomers have been able to make great leaps gathering information to better understand Pluto. Hopefully, with continued space travel and research, we can continue to learn about the unusual planet.
Take an estimate, how long do you think a year on Neptune would be? You probably answered any where between 60 and 90 years. Unfortunately you?re wrong. The correct answer is 165 Earth years. That?s a really long time! A day on Neptune is 16.1 Martian hours or 19.1 Earth hours.
Johnson, Michele. "NASA - NASA's Kepler Mission Confirms Its First Planet in Habitable Zone of Sun-like Star." NASA - Home. NASA, 05 Dec. 2011. Web. 17 Dec. 2011. http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/kepler/news/kepscicon-briefing.html
The age of the planet earth is sometimes a controversial topic, most believers, usually Christians, believe that due to what the bible has provided, the earth is somewhere near 6,000-12,000 years old. That’s only how far back the bible goes as for stories. An argument about it is that the bible only implies that humans have been around for 6,000+ years and not necessarily the earth itself, but with the beliefs of Adam and Eve, a lot of Christians think that. The common belief about the first humans was that God created them and put them on earth the last day he created the universe. The duration of the day to God, or what is in the bible may be drastically different than the 24hours we believe and live through today, so the opinion is not the most popular.
Everything changed on August 7, 1996, when NASA and President Clinton told the world that a very primitive life form had been found in a meteorite, from 1984. President Clinton had this to say about the matter: “This is a product of years of exploration and months of intensive study by the world’s most distinguished scientists. Like all discoveries, this one will and should continue to be reviewed, examined and scrutinized.'; After Clinton said this it was almost as if a scientific boom had occurred. NASA research teams of scientists at Johnson Space Center began to look for life as well. NASA began to send robots and Satellites to Mars. Unfortunately, they found nothing or lost contact with the robots or Satellites in the process. During the year of 1999 NASA sent up two rockets toward Mars and both were failures. Due to the failures, time has been given for scientists to blueprint a credible and step-by-step search for life on the Red Planet. Without the pressure to return Martian samples to Earth any time soon, new schemes for automated, on-the-spot detection of past or present Mars life can be flown.
The Earth isn't flat. To some that is obvious. To others it's a bold statement. Many scientists and people argue about a topic that has a clear answer. Is the Earth Flat? Over centuries, people have debated whether or not our planet is flat. But now, with the advancements of science and technology, people still choose to believe and create groups or “societies” claiming the Earth is flat. The flat Earth idea is false due to use of science, common sense and an individual's own opinion.
Earth system refers to the earths interacting physical, biological, and chemical processes. The system consists of land, oceans, atmosphere and poles. The earth system has four spheres, including the geosphere, the hydrosphere, the atmosphere, and the biosphere. The geosphere refers to the solid parts of the earth system, including earth’s rocky crust, mantle, and the metallic core. Within the geosphere is the lithosphere, which only refers to the uppermost layers of solid earth. The uppermost layers of solid earth are the oceanic and continental crust rocks. Just below the crust is the mantle, which is composed mostly of magnesium and iron silicate minerals. The mantle accounts for about 2/3 of the