Tau Ceti looks lively!

[fluffyfreak]

[url]http://news.sciencemag.org/sciencenow/2012/12/another-earth-just-12-light-year.html?ref=hp[/url] Tau Ceti appears to have at least 5 planets, one of which appears to be within the habitable zone of the star, itself quite alike to Sol. At 12 light years away it's pretty amazing! Andy

[nevilclavain]

For some scientists It seems that a giant dust ring is orbiting around Tau Ceti (asteroids and comets?), so there's a strong probability that any planet should often support big impacts events similar to the one that killed dinosaurs; so, probably not the best place for (complex) lifeforms unfortunately

[Loki999]

Tau Ceti may have 5 planets. They basically interpreted signals from data they had, trying to remove noise, and this gives the impression that there may be 5 planets. Still, its good stuff. If correct, then one planet, estimated at 4 times the size of Earth, is roughly where the habitable zone should be.

[fluffyfreak]

Oh I know it's only a "may", but that doesn't stop me being excited by the prospects. Plus it's looking increasingly likely that there are at least some planets there. They're looking to be as common as muck as they say.

[StarMax]

Nice. Hope they find what they're looking for.PS. Tau Ceti for me means the MANY of System Shock 2.

[Brianetta]

Look, we all know that Frontier and its back-story is basically an accurate portrayal of life in the future obtained by time travel, so we already know that Tau Ceti is the first place we'll find extra-terrestrial life. Simple.

[Cody]

Look, we all know that Frontier and its back-story is basically an accurate portrayal of life in the future obtained by time travel, so we already know that Tau Ceti is the first place we'll find extra-terrestrial life. Simple.<chortles merrily>

[Loki999]

Loki999 said : estimated at 4 times the size of Earth if that true , maybe it be unhabitable for humans (due to the expreme gravity , probably not the same athmo like the heart), and if we apply the law of the universal gravity ,if the orbital revolution an rotation are the same of the heart , a man of 70 kgs weigh 280kgs on this planet !As i recall, 4x size would not mean 4x gravity. Perhaps 2x, gravity is not a linear function of a planet's diameter. Someone else would have to do the maths.

[Brianetta]

As the linear dimensions of an object increase, the cross section increases proportional to the square of that linear increase, and the volume to the cube of that increase. Assuming that the density stays constant (a silly assumption for many materials, but we'll run with it), a four-fold increase in diameter would mean 64 times the mass. So gravity would be 64 times stronger in general, but since the surface is also four times further from the centre, and gravity's strength is inversely proportional to the square of the distance between the centres of mass, you get to divide 64 by 16 again, cancelling it down to 4.So, Vuzz is right.

[Loki999]

I stand corrected. I think I was confusing with the differences between like Earth and Jupiter, but since they have very different densities, its of course not going to be the same.