Astronomically improbable! :o
QuoteThe hunt for exoplanets has been heating up in recent years. Since it began its mission in 2009, over four thousand exoplanet candidates have been discovered by the Kepler mission, several hundred of which have been confirmed to be "Earth-like" (i.e. terrestrial). And of these, some 216 planets have been shown to be both terrestrial and located within their parent star's habitable zone (aka. "Goldilocks zone").
But in what may prove to be the most exciting find to date, the German weekly Der Spiegel announced recently that astronomers have discovered an Earth-like planet orbiting Proxima Centauri, just 4.25 light-years away. Yes, in what is an apparent trifecta, this newly-discovered exoplanet is Earth-like, orbits within it's sun's habitable zone, and is within our reach. But is this too good to be true?
For over a century, astronomers have known about Proxima Centauri and believed that it is likely to be part of a trinary star system (along with Alpha Centauri A and B). Located just 0.237 ± 0.011 light years from the binary pair, this low-mass red dwarf star is also 0.12 light years (~7590 AUs) closer to Earth, making it the closest star system to our own.
In the past, the Kepler mission has revealed several Earth-like exoplanets that were deemed to be likely habitable. And recently, an international team of researchers narrowed the number of potentially-habitable exoplanets in the Kepler catalog down to the 20 that are most likely to support life. However, in just about all cases, these planets are hundreds (if not thousands) of light years away from Earth.
Knowing that there is a habitable planet that a mission from Earth could reach within our own lifetimes is nothing short of amazing! But of course, there is reason to be cautiously optimistic. Citing anonymous sources, the magazine stated:
"The still nameless planet is believed to be Earth-like and orbits at a distance to Proxima Centauri that could allow it to have liquid water on its surface — an important requirement for the emergence of life. Never before have scientists discovered a second Earth that is so close by."
In addition, they claim that the discovery was made by the European Southern Observatory (ESO) using the La Silla Observatory's reflecting telescope. Coincidentally, it was this same observatory that announced the discovery of Alpha Centauri Bb back in 2012, which was also declared to be "the closest exoplanet to Earth". Unfortunately, subsequent analysis cast doubt on its existence, claiming it was a spurious artifact of the data analysis. :rolleyes:
However, according to Der Spiegel's unnamed source – whom they claim was involved with the La Silla team that made the find – this latest discovery is the real deal, and was the result of intensive work. "Finding small celestial bodies is a lot of hard work," the source was quoted as saying. "We were moving at the technically feasible limit of measurement."
The article goes on to state that the European Southern Observatory (ESO) will be announcing the finding at the end of August. But according to numerous sources, in response to a request for comment by AFP, ESO spokesman Richard Hook refused to confirm or deny the discovery of an exoplanet around Proxima Centauri. "We are not making any comment," he is reported as saying.
What's more, the folks at Project Starshot are certainly excited by the news. As part of Breakthrough Initiatives – a program founded by Russian billionaire Yuri Milner to search for intelligent life (with backing from Stephen Hawking and Mark Zuckerberg) – Starshot intends to send a laser-sail driven-nanocraft to Alpha Centauri in the coming years.
This craft, they claim, will be able to reach speeds of up to 20% the speed of light. At this speed, it will able to traverse the 4.37 light years that lie between Earth and Alpha Centauri in just 20 years. But with the possible discovery of an Earth-like planet orbiting Proxima Centauri, which lies even closer, they may want to rethink that objective.
As Professor Phillip Lubin – a professor at the University of California, Santa Barbara, the brains behind Project Starshot, and a key advisor to NASA's DEEP-IN program – told Universe Today via email:
"The discovery of possible planet around Proxima Centauri is very exciting. It makes the case of visiting nearby stellar systems even more compelling, though we know there are many exoplanets around other nearby stars and it is very likely that the Alpha Centauri system will also have planets."
Naturally, there is the desire (especially amongst exoplanet enthusiasts) to interpret the ESO's refusal to comment either way as a sort of tacit confirmation. And knowing that industry professionals are excited it about it does lend an air of legitimacy. But of course, assuming anything at this point would be premature.
If the statements made by the unnamed source, and quoted by Der Speigel, are to be taken at face value, then confirmation (or denial) will be coming shortly. In the meantime, we'll all just need to be patient. Still, you have to admit, it's an exciting prospect: an Earth-like planet that's actually within reach! And with a mission that could make it there within our own lifetimes. This is the stuff good science fiction is made of, you know.
Source: http://www.universetoday.com/130276/earth-like-planet-around-proxima-centauri-discovered/# (http://www.universetoday.com/130276/earth-like-planet-around-proxima-centauri-discovered/#)
Actual source: http://www.spiegel.de/wissenschaft/weltall/astronomie-erdaehnlicher-planet-beim-nachbarstern-entdeckt-a-1107405.html (http://www.spiegel.de/wissenschaft/weltall/astronomie-erdaehnlicher-planet-beim-nachbarstern-entdeckt-a-1107405.html)
(https://languish.org/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fjaypgreene.files.wordpress.com%2F2011%2F05%2Ftroy-mcclure-stop-the-planet-of-the-apes.png&hash=445ea7e1068a70d6d1c2a333901ce0d3e6da6482)
I miss Phil Hartman. :(
I recall a few months ago reading that some new model was proposing that red dwarfs may actually be able to support life afterall. If true, and on one so close....
Hell. Even a planet there is interesting enough. Get a decent enough optical telescope up there and maybe we can make something out.
Then again. Flare star.
Quote from: Tyr on August 15, 2016, 02:05:19 AM
I recall a few months ago reading that some new model was proposing that red dwarfs may actually be able to support life afterall. If true, and on one so close....
Hell. Even a planet there is interesting enough. Get a decent enough optical telescope up there and maybe we can make something out.
Then again. Flare star.
Link? I thought red dwarfs were too active.
Quote from: jimmy olsen on August 15, 2016, 03:24:28 AM]
Link? I thought red dwarfs were too active.
They are. Very unhealthy.
Quote from: Hamilcar on August 15, 2016, 06:13:41 AM
Quote from: jimmy olsen on August 15, 2016, 03:24:28 AM]
Link? I thought red dwarfs were too active.
They are. Very unhealthy.
[/Timmay]
Not if that helps to evolve a species of alien super beings. :contract:
[/Timmay]
* Am I deputising well enough?
Quote from: mongers on August 15, 2016, 07:08:03 AM
* Am I deputising well enough?
Not bad, but can you get an anime and/or Star Trek reference in?
Me reading Tim's child like posts on Space:
(https://languish.org/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.aurora-design.sakura.ne.jp%2Farchives%2Ftos_data%2Fimages%2Ftos10.jpg&hash=6dc1129ee15033b6bd92de51fd8c20c927627e40)
My guess is that the planet is an uninhabitable hellhole. I volunteer Timmay as First Colonist.
Quote from: Ed Anger on August 15, 2016, 08:41:33 AM
Me reading Tim's child like posts on Space:
(https://languish.org/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.aurora-design.sakura.ne.jp%2Farchives%2Ftos_data%2Fimages%2Ftos10.jpg&hash=6dc1129ee15033b6bd92de51fd8c20c927627e40)
Christ, your kidneys really are bad.
I like Tim and I like his posts. I learn a lot on different subjects that sometimes end up fascinating.
Keep doing you, Timmay.
(https://languish.org/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi100.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fm9%2Fjessicaspain%2FBalok_actual.jpg&hash=94680e6ff059cc616d616fe86255f0ffe476fd1c)
(https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/736x/8a/c5/51/8ac55133653d1708a91b152b033d50eb.jpg)
Quote from: Zoupa on August 15, 2016, 12:54:09 PM
I like Tim and I like his posts. I learn a lot on different subjects that sometimes end up fascinating.
Keep doing you, Timmay.
Tim is one of South Korea's national Treasures.
:w00t:
http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v536/n7617/full/nature19106.html
QuoteAt a distance of 1.295 parsecs1, the red dwarf Proxima Centauri (α Centauri C, GL 551, HIP 70890 or simply Proxima) is the Sun's closest stellar neighbour and one of the best-studied low-mass stars. It has an effective temperature of only around 3,050 kelvin, a luminosity of 0.15 per cent of that of the Sun, a measured radius of 14 per cent of the radius of the Sun2 and a mass of about 12 per cent of the mass of the Sun. Although Proxima is considered a moderately active star, its rotation period is about 83 days (ref. 3) and its quiescent activity levels and X-ray luminosity4 are comparable to those of the Sun. Here we report observations that reveal the presence of a small planet with a minimum mass of about 1.3 Earth masses orbiting Proxima with a period of approximately 11.2 days at a semi-major-axis distance of around 0.05 astronomical units. Its equilibrium temperature is within the range where water could be liquid on its surface5.
Video about the discovery by The European Southern Observatory
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lysJduOqads
Awesomeness! :cool:
Exploring plausible formation scenarios for the planet candidate orbiting Proxima Centauri
http://arxiv.org/pdf/1608.06908v1.pdf
QuoteABSTRACT
We present a study of four di erent formation scenarios that may be able to explain
the origin of the recently announced planet (`Proxima b') orbiting the star Proxima
Centauri. The aim is to examine how the formation scenarios di er in their predic-
tions for the multiplicity of the Proxima planetary system, the water/volatile content
of Proxima b and its orbital eccentricity, so that these can be tested by future obser-
vations.
A scenario of in situ formation via giant impacts from a locally enhanced disc
of planetary embryos and planetesimals, after dispersal of the gaseous protoplanetary
disc, predicts that Proxima b will be a member of a multiplanet system with a mea-
surably nite value of orbital eccentricity. Assuming that the local solid enhancement
needed to form a Proxima b analogue with minimum mass 1:3M arises because of
the inwards drift of solids in the form of small planetesimals/boulders that arose dur-
ing earlier phases, this scenario also likely results in Proxima b analogues that are
moderately endowed with water/volatiles, arising from the dynamical di usion of icy
planetesimals from beyond the snowline during planetary assembly .
A scenario in which multiple embryos form, migrate and mutually collide within a gaseous proto-
planetary disc also results in Proxima b being a member of a multiple system, but
where the constituent members are Ocean planets due to accretion occurring mainly
outside of the snowline, possibly within mean motion resonances. A scenario in which
a single accreting embryo forms at large distance from the star, and migrates inwards
while accreting either planetesimals or pebbles results in Proxima b being an isolated
Ocean planet on a circular orbit.
A scenario in which Proxima b formed via pebble accretion interior to the snowline produces a dry planet on a circular orbit. Future observations that characterise the physical and orbital properties of Proxima b, and any additional planets in the system, will provide valuable insight into the formation history of this neighbouring planetary system.
The habitability of Proxima Centauri b II. Possible climates and Observability
http://arxiv.org/pdf/1608.06827v1.pdf
QuoteABSTRACT
Radial velocity monitoring has found the signature of a Msin i = 1:3 M planet located within the Habitable Zone of Proxima Centauri, the Sun's closest neighbor (Anglada-Escudé et al. 2016). Despite a hotter past and an active host star the planet Proxima b could have retained enough volatiles to sustain surface habitability (Ribas et al. 2016). Here we use a 3D Global Climate Model (GCM) to simulate Proxima b's atmosphere and water cycle for its two likely rotation modes (the 1:1 and 3:2 spin-orbit resonances) while varying the unconstrained surface water inventory and atmospheric greenhouse e ect (represented here with a CO2-N2 atmosphere.)
We find that a broad range of atmospheric compositions can allow surface liquid water. On a tidally-locked planet with a surface water inventory larger than 0.6 Earth ocean, liquid water is always present (assuming 1 bar of N2), at least in the substellar region. Liquid water covers the whole planet for CO2 partial pressures & 1 bar. For smaller water inventories, water can be trapped on the night side, forming either glaciers or lakes, depending on the amount of greenhouse gases. With a non-synchronous rotation, a minimum CO2 pressure of 10 mbar (assuming 1 bar of N2) is required to avoid falling into a completely frozen snowball state if water is abundant. If the planet is dryer, 0.5 bar of CO2 would suce to prevent the trapping of any arbitrary small water inventory into polar ice caps.
More generally, any low-obliquity planet within the classical habitable zone of its star should be in one of the climate regimes discussed here. We use our GCM to produce reflection/emission spectra and phase curves for the diffrent rotations and surface volatile inventories. We find that atmospheric characterization will be possible by direct imaging with forthcoming large telescopes thanks to an angular separation of 7=D at 1 m (with the E-ELT) and a contrast of 107. The magnitude of the planet will allow for high-resolution spectroscopy and the search for molecular signatures, including H2O, O2, and CO2. The observation of thermal phase curves, although challenging, can be attempted with JWST, thanks to a contrast of 2105 at 10 m. Proxima b will also be an exceptional target for future IR interferometers. Within a decade it will be possible to image Proxima b and possibly determine whether this exoplanet's surface is habitable.
Been reported on bbc news today.
They say it takes 20 years to get there :blink:
Quote from: Tyr on August 25, 2016, 01:25:29 AM
Been reported on bbc news today.
They say it takes 20 years to get there :blink:
Breakthrough starshot, google it.
Quote from: Hamilcar on August 25, 2016, 01:26:22 AM
Quote from: Tyr on August 25, 2016, 01:25:29 AM
Been reported on bbc news today.
They say it takes 20 years to get there :blink:
Breakthrough starshot, google it.
so they've read a mote in gods eye :P
Quote from: Tyr on August 25, 2016, 01:25:29 AM
Been reported on bbc news today.
They say it takes 20 years to get there :blink:
That's quite fast. The system is like four light years away from Earth. If one can get there in 20 years, that means the travelling speed is like 20% of light speed. That's really fast.
Quote from: Hamilcar on August 25, 2016, 01:26:22 AM
Quote from: Tyr on August 25, 2016, 01:25:29 AM
Been reported on bbc news today.
They say it takes 20 years to get there :blink:
Breakthrough starshot, google it.
Weren't you bashing them when they announced their ambitions?
Why the change of heart? You being paid a consulting fee? :yeahright:
11.5 days means tidally locked. :cry:
Quote from: Grinning_Colossus on August 25, 2016, 04:45:01 AM
11.5 days means tidally locked. :cry:
If it has an atmosphere the heat could be equally distributed by the winds.
It's the atmosphere that's the sticking point. The radiation from the star might have stripped it off.
Quote from: jimmy olsen on August 25, 2016, 05:08:35 AM
Quote from: Grinning_Colossus on August 25, 2016, 04:45:01 AM
11.5 days means tidally locked. :cry:
If it has an atmosphere the heat could be equally distributed by the winds.
It's the atmosphere that's the sticking point. The radiation from the star might have stripped it off.
The temperature differential between the light and dark sides means that any winds would probably be insanely strong.
Ed's plan:
Send Tim.
Blow up spaceship halfway there.
Quote from: Ed Anger on August 25, 2016, 09:23:54 AM
Ed's plan:
Send Tim.
Blow up spaceship halfway there.
Better yet blow up the "spaceship" still on Earth. Much cheaper.
Quote from: Martinus on August 25, 2016, 09:27:33 AM
Quote from: Ed Anger on August 25, 2016, 09:23:54 AM
Ed's plan:
Send Tim.
Blow up spaceship halfway there.
Better yet blow up the "spaceship" still on Earth. Much cheaper.
Let him get one last thrill. I'm a nice guy.
Quote from: Ed Anger on August 25, 2016, 09:31:11 AM
Quote from: Martinus on August 25, 2016, 09:27:33 AM
Quote from: Ed Anger on August 25, 2016, 09:23:54 AM
Ed's plan:
Send Tim.
Blow up spaceship halfway there.
Better yet blow up the "spaceship" still on Earth. Much cheaper.
Let him get one last thrill. I'm a nice guy.
That's not what Hitler would do. :(
Quote from: Tonitrus on August 25, 2016, 07:45:02 PM
Quote from: Ed Anger on August 25, 2016, 09:31:11 AM
Quote from: Martinus on August 25, 2016, 09:27:33 AM
Quote from: Ed Anger on August 25, 2016, 09:23:54 AM
Ed's plan:
Send Tim.
Blow up spaceship halfway there.
Better yet blow up the "spaceship" still on Earth. Much cheaper.
Let him get one last thrill. I'm a nice guy.
That's not what Hitler would do. :(
Jews got a Train ride. Tim gets a rocket ride.
The James Webb Space Telescope will definitely be able to discover whether or not this planet is habitable.
http://arxiv.org/abs/1608.07345
QuoteThe newly detected Earth-mass planet in the habitable zone of Proxima Centauri could potentially host life - if it has an atmosphere that supports surface liquid water. We show that thermal phase curve observations with the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) from 5-12 microns can be used to test the existence of such an atmosphere. We predict the thermal variation for a bare rock versus a planet with 35% heat redistribution to the nightside and show that a JWST phase curve measurement can distinguish between these cases at 5σ confidence. We also consider the case of an Earth-like atmosphere, and find that the ozone 9.8 micron band could be detected with longer integration times (a few months). We conclude that JWST observations have the potential to put the first constraints on the possibility of life around the nearest star to the Solar System.
It's dead Jim! :weep:
https://www.forbes.com/sites/billretherford/2018/02/26/gigantic-stellar-flare-slams-earths-closest-exoplanet/#30e1cfde6ab7
QuoteGigantic Stellar Flare Slams Earth's Closest Exoplanet
Bill Retherford , CONTRIBUTOR
There's breaking news from Proxima b.
And for those hoping the exoplanet harbored life—it's just heartbreaking.
Astronomers today announced the discovery of a colossal stellar flare that erupted from the planet's host star, Proxima Centauri.
The flare, extraordinarily powerful, "likely blasted" the world with "high energy radiation," says Meredith MacGregor of the Carnegie Institution for Science.
And almost certainly not for the first time: similar flares, the scientists suggest, have probably bombarded Proxima b for possibly billions of years.
"That's a pretty safe conclusion," MacGregor says. "We observed for only ten hours and caught this one. So you can extrapolate—and imagine these flares might be relatively common."
If so, Proxima b could be a dead world.
The flare occurred almost one year ago, in March 2017. It lasted two minutes. At its peak, Proxima Centauri's brightness increased by 1,000 times.
Flares of such magnitude might eventually obliterate a planetary atmosphere, sterilizing the landscape; with no atmosphere, liquid surface water can't exist.
"This certainly raises questions about possible habitability," MacGregor says.
Yet the detection doesn't completely rule out extraterrestrial life on the planet: "There are a lot of factors we still don't understand. I hesitate to immediately squash it (the possibility of life)."
MacGregor's team analyzed data from Chile's ALMA Observatory. Those findings, just published, appear in The Astrophysical Journal Letters.
Proxima b—a rocky world about the size of Earth, and inside the habitable zone—is our nearest exoplanet, about twenty five trillion miles away. In space, that's close.
Since its August 2016 discovery, the planet was believed a possible place for life; perhaps even an archetype for other small, temperate worlds closely orbiting a red dwarf star. The galaxy has tens of billions of them.
If Proxima b is indeed a template for those planets—then stellar flares might routinely wipe out their atmospheres too. And the number of potentially habitable planets in the Milky Way would significantly decline.
Says MacGregor: "Seeing results like this prompts us to learn more about exactly what's going on in these stars."
You didn't really think we'd find a suitable planet the first place we looked?
QuoteThe flare occurred almost one year ago, in March 2017.
Did they pick it up on those secret FTL sensors?
:nelson:
It's a world full of preppers in tents going on about EMP effects.
Well it certainly destroyed all the orbital power transmitters.
Quote from: The Minsky Moment on February 27, 2018, 11:29:58 AM
It's a world full of preppers in tents going on about EMP effects.
I'm prepared for the poles to shift!
Quote from: jimmy olsen on February 27, 2018, 07:36:38 AM
It's dead Jim! :weep:
https://www.forbes.com/sites/billretherford/2018/02/26/gigantic-stellar-flare-slams-earths-closest-exoplanet/#30e1cfde6ab7
QuoteGigantic Stellar Flare Slams Earth's Closest Exoplanet
Ah, too bad. I'll have to cancel my vacation plans for there. It was pretty exciting before this happened though, and certainly there are other planets out there with life and habitable to humans hopefully close enough for astronomers to find sooner than later. Not that we can go there anytime soon but it adds interest and excitement.
Quote from: Jacob on February 27, 2018, 08:22:59 PM
Quote from: Ed Anger on February 27, 2018, 08:19:24 PM
Quote from: The Minsky Moment on February 27, 2018, 11:29:58 AM
It's a world full of preppers in tents going on about EMP effects.
I'm prepared for the poles to shift!
Shifty Poles?
If you can find it, watch some episodes of Doomsday Preppers. The pandemic and economic collapse scenarios I can understand, but the folks preparing for a pole shift were nuttier than squirrel shit.
Quote from: Ed Anger on February 27, 2018, 08:19:24 PM
Quote from: The Minsky Moment on February 27, 2018, 11:29:58 AM
It's a world full of preppers in tents going on about EMP effects.
I'm prepared for the poles to shift!
https://undark.org/article/books-alanna-mitchell-spinning-magnet/
:tinfoil:
It's alive!
https://www.unige.ch/communication/communiques/en/2020/espresso-confirms-the-existence-of-a-earth-around-the-nearest-star/
QuoteThe existence of a planet the size of Earth around the closest star in the solar system, Proxima Centauri, has been confirmed by an international team of scientists including researchers from the University of Geneva (UNIGE). The results, which you can read all about in the journal Astronomy & Astrophysics, reveal that the planet in question, Proxima b, has a mass of 1.17 earth masses and is located in the habitable zone of its star, which it orbits in 11.2 days. This breakthrough has been possible thanks to radial velocity measurements of unprecedented precision using ESPRESSO, the Swiss-manufactured spectrograph – the most accurate currently in operation – which is installed on the Very Large Telescope in Chile. Proxima b was first detected four years ago by means of an older spectrograph, HARPS – also developed by the Geneva-based team – which measured a low disturbance in the star's speed, suggesting the presence of a companion.
The ESPRESSO spectrograph has performed radial velocity measurements on the star Proxima Centauri, which is only 4.2 light-years from the Sun, with an accuracy of 30 centimetres a second (cm/s) or about three times more precise than that obtained with HARPS, the same type of instrument but from the previous generation.
"We were already very happy with the performance of HARPS, which has been responsible for discovering hundreds of exoplanets over the last 17 years", begins Francesco Pepe, a professor in the Astronomy Department in UNIGE's Faculty of Science and the man in charge of ESPRESSO. "We're really pleased that ESPRESSO can produce even better measurements, and it's gratifying and just reward for the teamwork lasting nearly 10 years."
Alejandro Suarez Mascareño, the article's main author, adds: "Confirming the existence of Proxima b was an important task, and it's one of the most interesting planets known in the solar neighbourhood."
The measurements performed by ESPRESSO have clarified that the minimum mass of Proxima b is 1.17 earth masses (the previous estimate was 1.3) and that it orbits around its star in only 11.2 days.
"ESPRESSO has made it possible to measure the mass of the planet with a precision of over one-tenth of the mass of Earth", says Michel Mayor, winner of the Nobel Prize for Physics in 2019, honorary professor in the Faculty of Science and the 'architect' of all ESPRESSO-type instruments. "It's completely unheard of."
And what about life in all this?
Although Proxima b is about 20 times closer to its star than the Earth is to the Sun, it receives comparable energy, so that its surface temperature could mean that water (if there is any) is in liquid form in places and might, therefore, harbour life.
Having said that, although Proxima b is an ideal candidate for biomarker research, there is still a long way to go before we can suggest that life has been able to develop on its surface. In fact, the Proxima star is an active red dwarf that bombards its planet with X rays, receiving about 400 times more than the Earth.
"Is there an atmosphere that protects the planet from these deadly rays?" asks Christophe Lovis, a researcher in UNIGE's Astronomy Department and responsible for ESPRESSO's scientific performance and data processing. "And if this atmosphere exists, does it contain the chemical elements that promote the development of life (oxygen, for example)? How long have these favourable conditions existed? We're going to tackle all these questions, especially with the help of future instruments like the RISTRETTO spectrometer, which we're going to build specially to detect the light emitted by Proxima b, and HIRES, which will be installed on the future ELT 39 m giant telescope that the European Southern Observatory (ESO) is building in Chile."
Surprise: is there a second planet?
In the meantime, the precision of the measurements made by ESPRESSO could result in another surprise. The team has found evidence of a second signal in the data, without being able to establish the definitive cause behind it. "If the signal was planetary in origin, this potential other planet accompanying Proxima b would have a mass less than one third of the mass of the Earth. It would then be the smallest planet ever measured using the radial velocity method", adds Professor Pepe.
It should be noted that ESPRESSO, which became operational in 2017, is in its infancy and these initial results are already opening up undreamt of opportunities. The road has been travelled at breakneck pace since the first extrasolar planet was discovered by Michel Mayor and Didier Queloz, both from UNIGE's Astronomy Department. In 1995, the 51Peg b gas giant planet was detected using the ELODIE spectrograph with an accuracy of 10 meters per second (m/s). Today ESPRESSO, with its 30 cm/s (and soon 10 after the latest adjustments) will perhaps make it possible to explore worlds that remind us of the Earth.
May 28, 2020
Well this is a very 2020 development and nothing to be pleased about, if you read "Spacecraft 2000 to 2100" as a kid in the 1970's. The book is a wonderful collection of mid 70's science fiction art and the story concerns the discovery of proxima by earth and the subsequent devastating space war that breaks out between our world and theirs. Fucking great Timmay, I hope you are happy.
(https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/512f6sWQKNL._SX397_BO1,204,203,200_.jpg)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terran_Trade_Authority (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terran_Trade_Authority)
https://vimeo.com/29549708 (https://vimeo.com/29549708)