From what it is like, to the potential of it being a brand new Earth that we can settle,
join me as we explore how Exoplanet Kepler-1649 c discovered by NASA is very similar to Earth!
When it comes to space, there are a lot of things that people on Earth are trying to
learn or study, but without a doubt the biggest "quest" if you will is them finding another
Earth.
Or at the very least, another very similar Earth-like planet that'll help us potentially
expand across the galaxy.
You might think that this is an easy task, and yet, just about every single "Earth-like
planet" that we have found over the last several decades have had major issues or problems
that prohibit it from being something we truly can colonize.
However, we are getting closer, and a brand new planet that has been found proves that
we are getting ever closer to that goal.
The exoplanet that has been found circles a red dwarf star that lies 300 light-years
from Earth, a new study reports.
It completes one orbit every 19.5 Earth days, putting the alien planet in its host star's
"habitable zone," the just-right range of distances where liquid water could exist on
a world's surface.
(Because red dwarfs are so dim, their habitable zones lie quite close.)
Out of the 2,681 exoplanets spotted by NASA's Kepler space telescope between 2009 and 2018,
this one is the most similar in size, and potentially temperature, to our own planet,
according to a new study.
The planet has been dubbed Kepler-1649c.
It's 1.06 times larger than Earth and receives about 75% the amount of light that Earth gets
from the sun.
This suggests that the surface temperature of the exoplanet could be similar to Earth.
Which is a key factor in its potential of being a planet that we can colonize in the
future.
"This intriguing, distant world gives us even greater hope that a second Earth lies among
the stars, waiting to be found," said Thomas Zurbuchen, associate administrator of NASA's
Science Mission Directorate in Washington.
"The data gathered by missions like Kepler and our Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite
(TESS) will continue to yield amazing discoveries as the science community refines its abilities
to look for promising planets year after year."
Before you get your hopes up too much, it definitely needs to be noted that the planet
is 300 light years from Earth at present.
But, if there's one that is out there that is Earth-like in the ways that matter, it
could mean that there may be a closer one in reach.
Though even traveling one light year from Earth in a good amount of time is a bit "impossible"
for us with our current methods of travel.
But in the future?
You never know...
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Going back to how it was found, Kepler hunted for planets using the "transit method," monitoring
stars for tiny brightness dips caused by planets crossing their faces from the spacecraft's
perspective.
Kepler did this in two phases: on its main mission, which lasted until 2013, and during
an extended mission called K2, which wrapped up 17 months ago when the spacecraft ran out
of fuel.
Both of these campaigns were very successful.
Kepler spotted about two-thirds of the 4,100 confirmed exoplanets that astronomers have
discovered to date.
And the spacecraft's observations suggest that 20-25% of the 200 billion or so stars
in the Milky Way galaxy host rocky worlds in the habitable zone.
That's a lot of potentially life-supporting real estate.
"But aren't we looking for more than just 'rocky worlds' to live on?" you might be asking.
And the answer is yes, objectively we want to find a world that is as close to Earth
as possible, which is why many feel the Alpha Centauri system would be our best bet in the
future for galactic colonization.
However, as we're proving in our own solar system, we sometimes need to look for our
"best options" and make due with the technology that we have.
Just like how humanity is preparing to go to Mars despite it not being the most hospitable
planet for humans.
And as noted, while we've found many "Earth-Like" planets in the universe, we haven't yet found
one that is perfectly like Earth.
So thus, having all of these "options" gives us some leeway should the worst come to pass
and we become desperately in need of a place to say.
Kepler's huge dataset will keep astronomers occupied for years.
Some of this work involves double checking, trying to dig up bona fide planets that previous
vetting software had mislabeled as false positives.
And there are many false positives in the Kepler data, because lots of things other
than orbiting planets can cause stellar brightness dips.
(For example, many stars exist in binary systems, and Kepler commonly saw eclipses of one star
by its binary companion.)
Indeed, a team of researchers formed the Kepler False Positive Working Group to do just such
investigations.
And they determined that Kepler-1649c had been wrongly thrown out as a false positive,
reports the new study, which was published online on April 15 in The Astrophysical Journal
Letters.
So by that logic, if this planet, which is allegedly one of the closest in similarities
to Earth that we've seen so far, was a "false positive", it could mean that scores of other
planets out there are also being labeled that, and thus need to be "found" once again so
that we can prove that they're more than just blips on the screen.
"Out of all the mislabeled planets we've recovered, this one's particularly exciting -- not just
because it's in the habitable zone and Earth-size, but because of how it might interact with
this neighboring planet," said Andrew Vanderburg, a researcher at the University of Texas at
Austin and first author of the study.
"If we hadn't looked over the algorithm's work by hand, we would have missed it."
If you're interested in pure stats, Kepler-1649c is just 1.06 times the size of Earth and gets
75% of the stellar energy influx that our planet gets from the sun.
This combination of characteristics makes the newfound world quite special indeed.
Especially when compared to the other "Earth-like Planets" that have been found by both Kepler
and others in the past.
"There are other exoplanets estimated to be closer to Earth in size, such as TRAPPIST-1f
and, by some calculations, Teegarden c," NASA officials wrote in the same statement.
"Others may be closer to Earth in temperature, such as TRAPPIST-1d and TOI 700d.
But there is no other exoplanet that is considered to be closer to Earth in both of these values
that also lies in the habitable zone of its system."
That right there is something that gets lost in the desire of finding a "new Earth", because
while something may look perfect on the surface, it can also be a bit too much of one thing
or another upon further inspection.
Which is why many are trying to be careful with their diagnosis of Kepler-1649c.
As Kepler-1649c's true habitability prospects are tough to gauge.
Astronomers know nothing about its atmosphere, for example, and the composition and thickness
of a world's air are strongly tied to its temperature and ability to maintain surface
water in the liquid phase.
In addition, red dwarfs unleash powerful flares frequently, especially in their youth, so
planets in their habitable zones may get their atmospheres stripped relatively quickly.
You might think, "well we could overcome these things, right?"
And yes, technically you are right, this wouldn't be unlike the colonizing of Mars, which is
being done in spite of the fact that Mars really doesn't have an atmosphere that benefits
us at all.
But again, this is more about trying to find the true "next Earth", and while Kepler-1649c
may be an option, if it's too hard to get too, and despite have enough "good points",
it may be deemed as "not worth the effort".
Which is something that humanity will really need to think about as it expands across the
galaxy and the universe, because colonies will cost serious time and money, and if even
the slightest thing might upend the process, they won't likely go through with it.
But, don't let this be a deterrent into thinking that all hope is lost, far from it, many are
looking at the finding of this new Exoplane and seeing it as proof that we are getting
ever closer to our goal: "The more data we get, the more signs we see
pointing to the notion that potentially habitable and Earth-size exoplanets are common around
these kinds of stars," study lead author Andrew Vanderburg, a researcher at the University
of Texas at Austin, said in the same statement.
"With red dwarfs almost everywhere around our galaxy, and these small, potentially habitable
and rocky planets around them, the chance one of them isn't too different than our Earth
looks a bit brighter."
So...what is our next step in terms of trying to find the next "Earth"?
Simple, we keep looking.
I'm sure that sounds a bit basic, but as we outlined earlier, Kepler-1649c is just one
planet among thousands that have been found by the Kepler spacecraft during its decade
long mission, and with many "false positives" still being out there potentially, there are
even more worlds to be rediscovered and dissected.
Plus, we have new crafts like TESS that can further go and discover new worlds, and that's
saying something.
It's able to record many different kinds of footage, and do it in a range of minutes,
if not sooner.
One of the big reasons for the creation of this satellite telescope was to be better
than the Kepler space telescope: "The TESS Mission is designed to survey over
85% of the sky (an area of sky 400 times larger than covered by Kepler) to search for planets
around nearby stars (within ~200 parsec).
TESS stars will typically be 30-100 times brighter than those surveyed by the Kepler
satellite."
Many feel that TESS could be the reason that we find new planets to potentially inhabit,
and due to this, the possibilities are further opening up:
“Kepler discovered the amazing result that, on average, every star system has a planet
or planets around it,” said Padi Boyd, TESS project scientist at NASA’s Goddard Space
Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland.
“TESS takes the next step.
If planets are everywhere, let’s find those orbiting bright, nearby stars because they’ll
be the ones we can now follow up with existing ground and space-based telescopes, and the
next generation of instruments for decades to come.”
One of the best parts about TESS as a system as a whole is that it's barely been in service
(as it was launched in 2018) and yet, it's already made wonderful discoveries that are
making all sorts of scientists happy.
It's found planets, stars, black holes, other phenomena, and it's still going!
This is the kind of progress that people can get behind:
“The pace and productivity of TESS in its first year of operations has far exceeded
our most optimistic hopes for the mission,” said George Ricker, TESS’s principal investigator
at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge.
“In addition to finding a diverse set of exoplanets, TESS has discovered a treasure
trove of astrophysical phenomena, including thousands of violently variable stellar objects.”
So imagine what TESS will be able to find in its full second year, or its third, or
its fifth!
Not to mention, NASA and other space agencies are always looking to improve themselves and
their technology, they may realize something with TESS that could lead to them being even
more advanced with their next find.
But what might that next find be?
Could it truly be the next new Earth?
It's hard to say, but the universe is a big place, and many scientists refuse to believe
that Earth is the only one out there that is this perfect in terms of its position,
composition, atmosphere, and more.
So thus, they keep making devices like the Kepler, like TESS, and more to try and find
that new world for us to go and live on.
Of course, humanity has to advance itself before it can take that next step towards
a New Earth.
At present, we're focused solely on the Moon and Mars missions that might result in colonies
being born.
The biggest problem though is time, travel, and process.
Any colony will take months if not years to make, and the travel to get to the moon, and
especially to Mars, isn't easy, or reliable if you think about it.
And the work that'll need to be done in order to get a colony made?
Not simple, or basic.
But, if we overcome this, and if we develop new technologies that can help us get there
fast, take less time to make it all work, then the possibilities are there for not just
a successful Mars or Moon colony, but for a colony outside of our solar system.
I'm sure to some of you it may seem folly that we're almost desperate to find another
Earth.
But in truth, the reason is as basic as it gets: We NEED to find another Earth.
We know this one won't last forever, so the moment we find a new Earth, we can start our
journey to get to it and hopefully build up a new life there.
It's just a matter of finding it...
Thanks for watching everyone!
What did you think of this look at this new planet that has been discovered?
Can you believe how similar it is to Earth in some ways?
Do you think that we'll truly be able to colonize it one day?
Let me know in the comments below, be sure to subscribe, and I'll see you next time on
the channel!