proxima centauri bb
earth 2.0
proxima centauri
alpha centauri is a star system made up
of three main stars alpha centauri a
alpha centauri b and alpha centauri c
better known as proxima centauri on
these three stars alpha centauri b is
the one that most attracts the attention
of astronomers because around it orbits
two rocky planets very similar to earth
which are within the habitable zone and
could even have life when astronomers
detected the blc-1 signal they couldn't
help but think even for a moment of the
possibility that someone out there was
trying to contact us
proxima centauri bb
bronx in the centauri bb is a rocky
exoplanet very similar to earth with
1.17 earth masses it is located in the
alpha centauri star system making it the
closest extrasolar planet to earth's
solar system and has all the conditions
to host life what mysteries await us in
this world let's get started
[Music]
in astronomy it is considered exoplanet
or extrasolar planet to any planet
orbiting a star different from the sun
in this sense stars with planets should
be regarded as solar systems independent
of ours the star system of alpha
centauri contains three stars one alpha
centauri a is a yellow star very similar
to the sun
two alpha centauri b is an orange dwarf
star
three alpha centauri c is a red dwarf
with a low luminosity that is
imperceptible even with a basic
telescope
alpha centauri a and alpha centauri b
orbit each other every 80 years and
alpha centauri sea orbits around the
previous two
for many centuries this system was
considered a single independent star
like our sun but from 1700 astronomers
such as william herschel realized that
they were indeed two gravitationally
joined stars
more recently on october 16 2012 the
european southern observatory esl
officially published the observed
remarks demonstrating the possible
existence of an extrasolar planet in
orbit around the star alpha centauri b
of course this news caused a furor in
the astronomical community not only for
the fact that it had found a new
exoplanet but it was one right on the
star closest to our solar system which
makes it an excellent candidate to be
the first to be visited by humans in the
future
the closest exoplanet to our solar
system was discovered with the high
accuracy radial velocity planet searcher
harps of the astronomical observatory of
la sila located in chile
among some of the essential features
that have been discovered so far about
proxima bb
is that it is a planet slightly larger
than earth so it should have a
gravitational pull force similar to that
of our world it also receives an amount
of light very comparable to that which
the earth receives from the sun and
perhaps the essential characteristic is
that as well as our planet proxima bb is
also located within the habitable zone
of its solar system habitable zone
the habitable zone is a region of the
solar system in which any rocky planet
that is there and presents ideal
conditions for the formation of
organisms will have high probabilities
of containing liquid water the
fundamental element for all living
beings that inhabit the earth in the
case of our solar system the habitable
zone covers the region that goes from
the orbit of mars to the orbit of venus
and the earth is located right in the
middle of the habitable zone of our
solar system
a rocky planet with little mass contains
a low concentration of greenhouse gases
so what have to orbit the innermost
region of the habitable zone so as not
to cross the melting point and be
subjected to a global glaciation as what
happens on mars
in contrast a more giant and more
massive planet will have a higher
concentration of these gases if it
remains at the outer limit of the zone a
habitable planet can suffer a runaway
greenhouse effect similar to that of
venus
it is because although even though venus
earth and mars are in the habitable zone
only the earth can have liquid water
venus is at the end of the habitable
zone closest to the sun and is therefore
very hot while mars is at the far end of
the habitable zone and therefore suffers
an eternal winter the earth is right in
the middle so it is a paradise for life
to flourish
roximus and tory bb orbits its star in
just 11.2 days in contrast to earth's
orbit around our sun for a year in
proxima bb the years last only 11.2 days
this means that proxima centauri b is
much closer to its star than earth is to
the sun but is it as close to a star as
it can be within the habitable zone
this is because the star at orbits
proxima centauri b is a red dwarf that
is a much smaller more relaxed and less
luminous star than our sun
which is why proxima bb receives about
the same amount of solar energy from its
star as the earth gets from our sun in
addition to this data recorded by the
european southern observatory esl
indicate that proxima b b is a rocky
planet slightly larger than earth in
short proxima bb is a planet quite
similar to earth so much so that it
could even host living things
the blc1 signal
on april 29th 2019 the parks murray yang
64 meter radio telescope in southeastern
australia detected a strong signal from
the star alpha centauri the closest star
to our solar system this raised alarms
in the astronomical community in charge
of searching for extraterrestrial life
a star has two potentially good planets
to host life in the system
was this signal a call from our
extraterrestrial neighbors telling us
here we are or was it something else
the mysterious signal coming from the
star closest to the earth was discovered
last year by shane smith a college
student at hillsdale college in michigan
who worked as a research fellow on the
breakthrough listen project
at first the signal was taken as a
simple interference some signal coming
from a nearby device that interfered
with the radio telescope
still after an exhaustive analysis by
smith and his tutor danny price they
decided to publish the signal and its
research in the slack channel of
breakthrough listen a program that has
its primary objective the search for
extraterrestrial life in the universe
coordinating its efforts with telescopes
and radio telescopes around the planet
as a millionaire fund and the support of
hundreds of researchers scientists and
astronomers from around the world
the signal baptized as blc1 acronym in
english of candidate one of breakthrough
listen smith price and a large group of
colleagues began to shuffle possible
explanations from satellites not catalog
to transmissions of space missions still
nothing coincided with the signal which
had a different frequency to those used
in devices on the ground and lasted five
long hours everything indicated that the
signal came from alpha centauri
but a year later the university of
california berkeley astronomer sofia
sheikh would declare that due to its
frequency and bandwidth as well as its
unique signal that was not detected
again it is most likely that the blc1
signal was only a radio interference of
human origin coming from a technological
device located on the surface of the
earth
earth 2.0
although for now proxima bb is one more
exoplanet in the long list of exoplanets
we know of the fact that it is the
closest to our solar system makes it an
excellent candidate to be the future
home of humans
since its coverage in 2016 this
extrasolar planet has done nothing but
awaken enthusiasm for human exploration
and missions are already being planned
to send the first exploration probes to
this planet the most realistic of all is
the starshot project
starshot project
in 2015 cosmologist philip lubin of the
university of california santa barbara
uc usa unveiled the first realistic plan
to send a spacecraft to the star alpha
centauri in the coming years
the big project consisted of
manufacturing microspacecraft the size
of chips that will weigh less than a
gram
these ships would be put into orbit and
have solar sails like those used by the
japanese space probe icarus
the way in which these ships are
propelled would be with a powerful laser
fired from the earth which would be by
hundreds of lasers joined in a single
beam of light that with a single shot
will provide the ship with relativistic
speeds reaching 60 000 kilometers per
second or 250 million kilometers per
hour that is 15 of the speed of light so
they could get to proxima centauri in
just 30 years
the most impressive thing about this
great project is that it is based on
physics and technology that already
exists
this technology as well as the
fundamentals and ideas on which it is
based do not require technology that
does not exist or new physics everything
is possible it is only necessary to
afford it and of course create it
according to the team of experts working
with lubin and prestigious scientists
like stephen hawking this is the first
possible interstellar technology that we
could do in our lives affordably still
they face the most significant
challenges creating a powerful laser to
boost the ships
this is the most difficult not only for
the technological part but also for the
political part there's usually no
problem when you talk about sending
spacecraft to other stars
nobody's affected or harmed but if you
start talking about shooting with lasers
people get very nervous says joan
johnson freeze a professor of national
security affairs at the u.s naval
warfare university
there is great fear when working with
this type of technology since they can
quickly become powerful weapons jones
suggests that for the project to have a
promising future international agreement
will be needed to guarantee a peaceful
use and only for scientific purposes of
such a powerful laser
for now the project so-called star shot
of the breakthrough initiative is still
in the creation phase but it is expected
that in the coming years the first tests
of lasers for the impulse of micro
spacecraft will begin to be carried out
earth 2.0 proxima bb is a place of great
interest for the entire scientific
community especially for astronomers who
do not stop thinking about what awaits
us on that planet so far away
could it be like earth will it have
large oceans and forests with abundant
life like the ones we know
the most recent research seems to
indicate that this is not the case
recently the eso telescope has revealed
that due to the distance at which
proxima bb orbits its star it is highly
likely that it presents maria coupling
this phenomena consists of a celestial
body always giving the same face to the
body it orbits
the simplest example of this is the moon
in our natural satellite always gives
the same face to the earth because the
time it takes to turn around its axis is
the same time it takes to go around the
sun so it is considered that the moon
has tidal coupling with the earth
in the case of proxima bb it is likely
that it also has a face always looking
at its star this means that on one side
of the planet it is always day and the
other side it is eternally night there
are no sunrises no sunsets
naturally this would influence the
appearance of living beings a planet
that has tidal coupling must have as a
consequence drastically different
temperatures on each side while on the
side where it is always day it would
always be at 400 degrees celsius on the
tide where it is always night it could
have a temperature of minus 100 degrees
celsius both temperatures are extreme it
is improbable that life arises in those
conditions
if there are no living beings in proxima
bb could we inhabit it
that will depend on the conditions of
the planet if the current estimates are
correct and it turns out that proxima bb
has tidal coupling with its star
it will be complicated to inhabit it we
could have to do it in the region where
both temperatures meet right in the
middle of the day and night
in that case the established human bases
would always live in that area of the
planet where it is not day but it is not
night we will live with an eternal
sunrise or sunset that never culminates
the years would pass quickly since the
planet is so close to its star the doses
of radiation are very high so if it
doesn't have a magnetic field like ours
we would have to build artificial
habitats that generate electromagnetic
protection that protects us from the
radiation of the star
for now everything remains in a mere and
deep sleep still the possibilities exist
maybe at some point in the future when
our technology and ambition allow it to
send the first spacecraft to explore
that world and discover once and for all
if we are alone or not in this vast
universe