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from the that'd-take-18,000-years-at-Helios'-top-speed dept.
Astronomers have reportedly discovered an Earth-like exoplanet in the habitable zone of Proxima Centauri, one of the closest stars to our Sun. However, the claim is based on an anonymous source who is said to have leaked the news ahead of an announcement by the European Southern Observatory:
[In] what may prove to be the most exciting find to date, the German weekly Der Spiegel [translation] 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? [...] 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.
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.
[Continues...]
Here's an article we ran about the possible discovery of Alpha Centauri Bb.
There is some debate about the habitability of red dwarf systems in general. Nevertheless, one of the minds behind Breakthrough Initiatives/Project Starshot is enthused about the possible discovery. It seems likely that at the very least, almost all stars have planets or dwarf planets orbiting them.
Proxima Centauri will move closer to the Earth over the next 26,700 years at a rate of 22.4 km/s, until its closest approach of 3.11 light years.
(Score: 2) by Immerman on Thursday August 18 2016, @06:33PM
Seriously? I think you need to do some of your *own* experiments - rigorous ones with the math vetted by actual engineers or mathematicians who know what they're doing. Eratosthenes managed to do them thousands of years ago and measured the circumference of the Earth with remarkable accuracy, and he as hardly the only one. Ditto measuring the distance to the sun, and other calculation that can be made with only basic geometry. And variations of those experiments have been performed time and again in the intervening centuries. Hell, if you don't care about numbers you can go stand by the ocean on a clear, calm day and clearly see the curvature of the Earth for yourself. Bonus points if you take a telescope and watch tall ships gradually appearing and disappearing over the horizon.
If you want to do calculations - well then you're going to need to do better than sticks in the ground, unless they're extremely well calibrated and you manage to install them perfectly vertically over a perfectly horizontal surface. Try flagpoles in level parking lots instead - it won't be perfect, but the dimensions are big enough that the errors won't amplify nearly so much. And of course you absolutely need to have an accomplice at the same longitude but several hundred miles further from the equator than you, with a same-height flagpole, to measure the shadow at the same high-noon (NOT clock-noon) moment as you are in order to have any chance of getting a remotely accurate measurement. And your reference flagpole should really be in the tropics at a location where the sun is directly overhead and has essentially no shadow at noon in order to minimize the errors in your angle calculations (those are where minor errors will have the largest impact). Any departure from that basic recipe is going to make it essentially impossible to get meaningful numbers. (Or at the very least, makes the math *radically* more complicated and error-sensitive)