tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7494544263897150929.post6758313444848419005..comments2024-03-28T00:36:19.403-07:00Comments on Rocketpunk Manifesto: Worlds Beyond II - "Super-Earth"Rickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16932015378213238346noreply@blogger.comBlogger7125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7494544263897150929.post-31717225863359090612007-04-27T07:14:00.000-07:002007-04-27T07:14:00.000-07:00Sam - yes, surface gravity on this planet might be...Sam - yes, surface gravity on this planet might be about twice as much as on Earth (2 g, another bit of geekspeak I'll be using regularly). No one can be sure yet, because we don't know how big it actually is or what it is made of - only an estimate of how massive it is. <BR/><BR/>My personal guess is that as much as half of it might be water, an "ocean" several thousand kilometers deep. That would make it larger than a rocky planet of the same mass, since water is less dense than rock, but the surface gravity would be a bit more comfortable.<BR/><BR/>It actually gets about as much total light from Gleise 581 as we get from the sun - the star is a lot dimmer, but the planet is a lot closer to it. A large proportion of the light, however, would be in the infrared - pretty useless to plants on Earth, I suppose, but any local life presumably evolved for those conditions.<BR/><BR/>To borrow a line from Arthur C. Clarke, if it does have an ocean thousands of miles deep ... think of the fishing!Rickhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16932015378213238346noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7494544263897150929.post-26226068193437195442007-04-26T23:33:00.000-07:002007-04-26T23:33:00.000-07:00How cool. Would a larger planet mean more mass and...How cool. <BR/>Would a larger planet mean more mass and considerably more gravity? Less light, hmmm. Tricky for most plants, but a hosta heaven, lol. <BR/>Let's see: 'For sale - half a million acres in uncharted territory. Bring your flashlights and anti-gravity devices...'Samhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05943062466398436785noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7494544263897150929.post-68139824745313327252007-04-26T20:05:00.000-07:002007-04-26T20:05:00.000-07:00Hi, ea! Was it this:http://skytonight.com/news/Re...Hi, ea! <BR/><BR/>Was it this:<BR/><BR/>http://skytonight.com/news/Red_Square_Nebula.html<BR/><BR/>(I've long forgotten how to hand-code links!) <BR/><BR/>Apparently the squareness is a perspective effect, and it really looks more like two martini glasses joined stem to stem - but a remarkable and wonderful sight in any case.Rickhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16932015378213238346noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7494544263897150929.post-77859492701438567442007-04-26T17:41:00.000-07:002007-04-26T17:41:00.000-07:00Hi Rick. I saw over at Bernita's that you had star...Hi Rick. I saw over at Bernita's that you had started a blog so I stopped in for a visit. On Spaceweather.com recently, there were photos of a "square" nebula -- or something like that. It was strange!EA Monroehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14077434959405684899noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7494544263897150929.post-61048976541800184582007-04-26T11:37:00.000-07:002007-04-26T11:37:00.000-07:00Nyrath - It certainly hints that there are indeed ...Nyrath - It certainly hints that there are indeed planets in stars' habitable zones, besides the one we're sitting on. <BR/><BR/>I suspect that the biggest contraint on human habitability may be not right-size-right-place planets, but their biological history - Earth has only been human habitable for roughly a tenth of its history.<BR/><BR/>Still it makes the spine tingle.<BR/><BR/><BR/>Bernita - that was quick!Rickhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16932015378213238346noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7494544263897150929.post-52958307836841538172007-04-26T11:26:00.000-07:002007-04-26T11:26:00.000-07:00Definitely exciting!Definitely exciting!Bernitahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05264585685253812090noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7494544263897150929.post-54934077722726972172007-04-26T06:11:00.000-07:002007-04-26T06:11:00.000-07:00More to the point, the fact that this system is a ...More to the point, the fact that this system is a mere 20 light-years away drastically increases the estimate of the number of human-habitable planets in our neck of the woods.<BR/><BR/>Good times!Nyrath the nearly wisehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00763356343419115136noreply@blogger.com