Stories
Slash Boxes
Comments

SoylentNews is people

posted by martyb on Sunday April 09 2017, @06:28AM   Printer-friendly
from the but-can-they-see-US? dept.

https://www.keele.ac.uk/pressreleases/2017/atmospheredetectedaroundanearth-likeplanet.html

Astronomers have detected an atmosphere around the super-Earth planet GJ 1132b. This marks the first detection of an atmosphere around an Earth-like planet other than Earth itself, and thus is a significant step on the path towards the detection of life outside our Solar System. The team that made the discovery, led by Keele University's Dr John Southworth, used the 2.2 m ESO/MPG telescope in Chile to take images of the planet's host star GJ 1132. They were able to measure the slight decrease in brightness as the planet and its atmosphere absorbed some of the starlight while transiting (passing in front of) the host star.

[...] The discovery of this atmosphere is encouraging. Very low-mass stars are extremely common (much more so that[sic] Sun-like stars), and are known to host lots of small planets. But they also show a lot of magnetic activity, causing high levels of X-rays and ultraviolet light to be produced which might completely evaporate the planets' atmospheres. However, the properties of GJ 1132b show that an atmosphere can endure this for billion of years without being destroyed. Given the huge number of very low-mass stars and planets, this could mean that the conditions suitable for life are common in the Universe.

How much would this affect computing the Drake equation?


Original Submission

 
This discussion has been archived. No new comments can be posted.
Display Options Threshold/Breakthrough Mark All as Read Mark All as Unread
The Fine Print: The following comments are owned by whoever posted them. We are not responsible for them in any way.
  • (Score: 1, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday April 09 2017, @07:05AM

    by Anonymous Coward on Sunday April 09 2017, @07:05AM (#491106)

    Given that cited reference has estimates for N (no. of life bearing plants in the Milky Way) ranging from 1e-11 to 1e9 I don't think we need to worry how this new data - or anything at all in fact - affects the Drake eqn. Could be the least precise estimate EVER in the history of the universe.

    Starting Score:    0  points
    Moderation   +1  
       Funny=1, Total=1
    Extra 'Funny' Modifier   0  

    Total Score:   1