
Astronomers discover super-Earth around Barnard's star - dnetesn
https://phys.org/news/2018-11-astronomers-super-earth-barnard-star.html
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autocorr
One of the most exciting things about this discovery is that because Barnard's
star is so close, the planet should have a maximum angular separation of 0.22
arcseconds. Directly imaging the planet in reflected light from the star [1]
will be no problem for next generation telescopes in terms of resolution and
sensitivity -- telescopes like the 30 meter class facilities being built now
or a hypothetical ~10 meter space telescope called "LUVOIR". Current cutting
edge instruments like the Gemini Planet Imager (GPI) can already get to about
0.2 arcsec resolution, but it operates in the infrared and can only detect
down to about a Jupiter-mass depending on how hot the planet is. The really
exciting thing about imaging a planet in reflected light is that you can study
the composition of the atmosphere in much greater detail than current methods
[2]. This is likely the first system that astronomer's will target when they
seek to make direct observations of a rocky planet's atmosphere outside of our
Solar System.

[1] Ss opposed to the thermal infrared, which works best for young planets
which have substantial residual heat from their formation. [2] Such as when an
exoplanet transits in front of it's host star, the atmosphere will absorb some
light. However it appears this technique is only sensitive to the very thin
upper parts of the atmosphere, and we don't learn much about the rest.

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EthanHeilman
How many years is such a discovery away?

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mturmon
Luvoir is expected to launch in the mid-2030s. It is one of at least two
exoplanet detection-and-characterization missions that is under study by NASA.

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privong
> Luvoir is expected to launch in the mid-2030s

For others who are not familiar with the NASA studies, "expected" is probably
too strong a word and "proposed" is probably more accurate. LUVOIR is one of
four flagship mission concepts which NASA has provided with seed money. They
will all be evaluated during the coming 2020 Decadal Survey of Astronomy and
Astrophysics. The recommendations from that survey will then be used as
guidance for NASA. So if the Decadal Survey ranks LUVOIR as a top priority
(the missions are all so large that it is unlikely more than one would be
funded), and if they meet their proposed timeline, then it would launch in the
mid-2030s. So it's not yet a given that LUVOIR will happen (another mission
could be more highly ranked), and the timeline should be taken with a grain of
salt.

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mturmon
This is 100% accurate.

In fact, given the timeline, I’d be surprised if either Luvoir or HabEx, as
currently envisioned, actually flies. There is a lot of technical innovation
that will happen between now and then, even if the Decadal recommends one or
the other.

(I work on yield modeling for the study. I make plots and animations of
observations, and the times on the plot labels have disconcertingly-far-off
times like 2036.)

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sandworm101
It all depends on jwst. If that flops, or even if it only goes as planned,
without the spectacular over-performance expected of nasa stuff these days,
future large space telescopes will be shelved for a generation At least the
optical ones.

My worry is that jwst will be too short-lived. It cannot become the fixture
for decades that hubble has been.

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Topgamer7
It would only take ~50 years to reach Barnard's star with a theoretical fusion
engine according to a research study named Project Daedalus. Someone shoot a
probe at the planet and maybe our kids can see some cool imagery!

~~~
rbanffy
With 100 tons of propellant and the best imaginable VASIMR engine we could
send a 10 ton payload (mostly nuclear reactor) there in...

2600 years.

We need better engines. A Daedalus-class fusion drive would be a great option,
but first we'd need to develop it.

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taf2
Minor details - let’s roll

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simonh
Ok, I'll just nip off to Jupiter to mine 50,000 tones of deuterium/Helium-3
fuel from the atmosphere. I'll be back in a jiffy.

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barrow-rider
Also just a minor detail - let's roll

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dvh
Barnard's star is a flare star so the surface probably gets randomly fried.

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chrispeel
Because of its age, Barnard's star has less flare activity [1]. Also, from the
Nature article [2] we read "Barnard’s star is also among the least
magnetically active red dwarfs known..."

[1]
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barnard%27s_Star](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barnard%27s_Star)

[2]
[https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-018-0677-y](https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-018-0677-y)

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nategri
"Super-Earths" are among the most numerous planet type in the galaxy. The term
just means they mass somewhere between 1 and 10 Earths, and says literally
nothing else about the planet.

Why is this interesting news?

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pmiller2
Because it's right in our backyard? At about 6 light years, this star and its
planet(s) are the second closest extrasolar star system to Earth, after Alpha
Centauri.

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rbanffy
And since it rotates around a relatively dim star, imaging it directly is much
easier than a planet much further away.

Also, super earths are more common only because we can find them with the
tools we have. By looking at our own backyard, I can tell you round rocks
smaller than Earth are much more numerous than any other roughly spherical
thing orbiting the Sun.

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JauntTrooper
I'd love to see a simple, 2D map of our corner of the galaxy now that we've
discovered so many planets.

Something like the closest 25-50 stars, color coded by type of star and
planets (cool/hot/gassy).

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fhars
Here is a slightly older overview of our neighbourhood (the stars haven‘t
moved much since then, but you‘d have to add the more recent planet
information):
[https://zompist.com/nearstars.html](https://zompist.com/nearstars.html)

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JauntTrooper
Neat, thanks for the link!

What I'm really thinking though, is a simpler looking map. Like a political
map of the world, the kinds you had hanging up in your 2nd grade classroom.
I'm surprised no one has made one yet of our starry neighborhood.

I'd make one, but I unfortunately cannot draw or do any graphic design to save
my life.

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Tepix
Are there any concepts for an engine that consists of a "classic" particle
accelerator to achieve a high ISP?

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Aic1kuir
That's what most electromagnetic thrusters do.

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commonsense1234
its only a matter of time we find other living organisms. The odds are staked
so high against not finding any.

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restalis
Let's say we'd eventually find those other living organisms. What then? (BTW,
the odds of that life to be a sentient one are much lower.)

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dotancohen
I posted this above, but it's a good answer to you as well.

I think that most people, be them scientists, religious leaders, politicians,
or even laymen, will have their lives changed forever by the discovery of
extra-terrestrial life. For the religious, discovery of even extra-terrestrial
bacteria will upend most of the interpretations of their holy books. Those
books are the foundation of modern Western society (Do not kill, do not steal,
do not take another man's wife, etc). By upending the basis of society we have
no idea how humanity will end up. Will we throw everything based on the bible
away? Reinterpret them? Will the Jews and Muslims reconcile? Will the
Christians set out on another crusade? Will that crusade be to the extra-
terrestrial bacteria to wipe them out as well?

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dragonwriter
> For the religious, discovery of even extra-terrestrial bacteria will upend
> most of the interpretations of their holy books

The religious might surprise you.

[https://www.vofoundation.org/faith-and-science/life-in-
the-u...](https://www.vofoundation.org/faith-and-science/life-in-the-
universe/extraterrestrial-life/)

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dotancohen
Doesn't surprise me at all. There are a multitude of opinions. But the
question was "what will change", discussing those that accept the new findings
and have no need to change is orthogonal to answering the question.

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HillaryBriss
so, are we just-ok-Earth now?

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nimish
If Jack Williamson was correct then we probably shouldn't probe deeper, lest
the Medusae find us...

Would be interesting to see if it could bear life despite being frozen.

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saiya-jin
Well tardigrades wouldn't mind that much, but it would be hard to evolve to
that point. The point is, evolution seems to find a way no matter how harsh
the environment is, as long as the life already started

