All about Astronomy Thread - Our Expanding Universe: Age, History & Other Facts

"A planet close by" - 100 ly away.... Nm the fact that it orbits a red dwarf and it's freezing over there. Next!

 

100 is super close, actually!

 

Well not in relation to any plausible propulsion systems our civilisation could come up with any time soon.

Have we conclusively finished researching Alpha Centauri system. The B star is a nice yellow dwarf. According to Wikipedia an important mission got cancelled in 2010 because of the financial crisis... Freaking 4.37ly away man!

 

Well, there was Alpa Centauri B b from mid-2000s, but that turned out to never have existed at all, unfortunately.

Then there is Proxima Centauri b from 2016, but despite being very close, it certainly doesn't look even remotely habitable due to extreme solar wind pressure and x-ray intensities, and last year doubts were raised regarding whether it even transits its sun relative to earth, so a lot of orbital and mass guess calculations are totally useless (and therefore everything else about it) until we know the inclination.

That said, it should remain a good candidate for robot investigation.

 

Interesting. Given so many issues with accurate research into a bright system 4 light years away, I can only imagine the accuracy of predictions regarding a dim system 25 times farther

 

“For services provided on Mars, or in transit to Mars via Starship or other colonisation spacecraft, the parties recognise Mars as a free planet and that no Earth-based government has authority or sovereignty over Martian activities,” the governing law section states.

“Accordingly, disputes will be settled through self-governing principles, established in good faith, at the time of Martian settlement.”

Ah yes, 2020. The year we will look back on US Space Force getting serious, meanwhile Elon Musk pre-emptively declares Mars a free planet... (we already know where this ends up...@Red Faction fans)

"...and thus was the stage set, children, for the Inner Colony Rebellion and the Lunar-Martian Wars which followed..."

 

Ah, Mars. What a wonderful remote unterraformable wasteland. Nuclear testing grounds to boot..

 

why are they interested in living on mars what about earth

 

This Super Bright Galaxy Surprised The Scientists When They Analyzed It

 

Interesting, but "an extremely bright galaxy"? I guess as observed through Hubble, or one of the Chilean telescopes, in UV