Astronomers spot Earth-sized exoplanet probably 'carpeted' by volcanoes Astronomers have discovered a rocky Earth-sized exoplanet they believe is "likely carpeted with volcanoes" and may be capable of supporting an atmosphere and liquid water, according to a paper published in Nature on Wednesday. The strange new world, romantically dubbed LP 791-18d, has radius and a mass similar to Earth. It …
We are now detecting the atmosphere of planets in solar systems that are trillions upon trillions upon trillions of kilometers away.
Sure, it's an atmosphere that is probably full of noxious gases due to volcanic activity, and it's not a planet we'll ever colonize, but we're actually reading the composition of its atmosphere.
We haven't just detected its presence, we are analyzing parts of it.
Amazing.
So, when are we going to have LV 426 LP 791-18d's surface on Google Earth ?
"Surely you mean Google LP 791-18d?"
Hmm. That's a horrible name. How about "Google Lipid"?
The other three could be: Elpa, Lapbug and Lampcat.
If we find a fifth world, we could go with "Loper". Then, perhaps, "Luffy", "Lugnuts", "Lohi" and such like fancies?
Hey, did I just name some planets?
> 1 thumb down
So, what is it you have to object, inarticulate protester?...
That planet (LP 791-18d) was detected on the basis of observations of transit timing variations and its mass calculated from those. Nobody saw it, nobody saw its atmosphere either. We just assume it must be about that size, probably about that surface temperature (give or take 100 K...), that its neighbors are uncomfortably close, and given the small distance to its star it must be tidally locked. That's all we know.
It need not necessarily be 1:1 locked.
Our Mercury isn't.
5:3 or 3:5 or others might be stable for long periods, especially with C interfering with the locking mechanics.
Three days per five orbits would make for interesting calendars, with C {"Lapcat"?} making astrology interesting.
New houses on LP 791-18d...
I'd go with a pontoon house boat. Stainless steel pontoons should be able to handle the heat of the lava. You'd need a good amount of insulation under the deck and an impressive air conditioner. Also, you might end up on water so the pontoon system would give you flexibility.
Some fifty-ish years ago, a televised serial story had a starship with the technology capable of reading the surface and atmospheric conditions
of planets light-years from the ship.
Tiny but totally amazing parts of "Star Trek" are really, really happening right now! Things believed utterly impossible in the 1960's, with very
good reasons.
Those Science Guys are incredible.
Imagine what we could know by the 23rd Century!
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