NASA finds planet outside of our solar system eerily similar to Earth

[megachirops]

Since we're apparently overdue for the periodical inversion of our planet's magnetic field, sooner or later it'll come. They say that as the magnetic field inverts itself, the planet will be fully vulnerable (for hours, or days, who knows) to the sun's harmful rays. Let's hope that this "planet eerily similar to earth" is deemed habitable soon, so that we can all slowly migrate over there before the magnetic field inverts itself.

 

Don't fret man, the magnetic field doesn't switch polarity (North turns to South, and Vice Versa) for another couple million years. And even when it does, the change isn't noticeable except the compasses will show differently.

[Moontanman]

Because of Keppler 22B's more inward position in the goldilocks zone its mean temperature would seemingly be hotter than Earth. This seemingly would not be a problem for a water planet, or a water planet having some continents close to the poles. As far as hydrogen and helium in its atmosphere, I would expect these elements to be as rare as they are in our atmosphere on Earth since they would float above all other gases and would be slowly stripped away by the stellar wind as they are on Earth. But an extensive atmosphere seemingly would certainly be their because of its greater gravity. The atmospheric pressure seemingly could be many time greater than the Earth's and if so much of Earth's surface life probably could not live there. It's in the zone where liquid water would be expected as well as atmospheric water in the form of humidity and clouds since again it would be hotter than Earth. But as to its combined characteristics it seems interesting concerning the possibility of some kind of life if the planet's inclination and rotate rate is conducive to surface temperature consistency and if there are oceans or lakes of water that are not too saline or too carbonated.

//

 

 

I forgot to address this, why would you think hydrogen would float above the other gasses in the atmosphere and be stripped off? A planet that big should be able to hold on to hydrogen and it would mix with the other gases just like CO2, O2, N3, mix in the earth's atmosphere.

[pantheory]

I thought my post was pretty GD clever, lol. No one liked that bit of humor?

What humor? It was too clever for me, maybe a smile concerning the link. Looks like an Earth look-alike without a North Pole, cool. I think the artist or photo-shop aficionado did a good job though.

 

I guess there must be some topic related humor in your link somewhere:

 

(form your link)

Wizard: So you see, Dorothy, you had Herpes all along!

Dorothy: But I didn't want Herpes!

Wizard: Oh. Well... you've got it. — Family Guy

Upon reading your link I didn't quite get how it ties in with the topic, but I probably missed something.

 

I forgot to address this, why would you think hydrogen would float above the other gasses in the atmosphere and be stripped off? A planet that big should be able to hold on to hydrogen and it would mix with the other gases just like CO2, O2, N3, mix in the earth's atmosphere.

It depends upon how large the atmosphere is. On a hotter water planet the atmosphere would be thick with humidity, seemingly to high altitudes. This makes the atmosphere more dense/ heavy. As on the Earth the light elements would rise above a lower denser atmosphere generally absent of the lightest gases. CO2, O2, and nitrogen are heavier gases that do not easily separate so they generally mix together. CO2 is the heaviest of these but if emitted in large quantities from natural processes on Earth, it can move over like a fog, silently and quickly killing animal and human life within it before it eventually mixes in the lower atmosphere.

 

When the lightest gases rise to the top of any atmosphere, at this altitude the atmosphere will be very thin and unprotected from the stellar wind which can erode away the uppermost gases in time. For a hotter planet I believe one would expect that the lighter elements in the upper atmosphere would erode away more quickly than on Earth because the stellar radiation would be more influential. This is what they presently think happened to the water and most of the lighter gases that were originally thought to be on Venus. Water in the atmosphere was thought to be broken down to its elements and slowly eroded away leaving primarily the heaviest gases, primarily carbon dioxide, sulfur dioxide, and sulfuric acid in gas form, with only relatively small amounts of remaining water and other trace gases.

Edited February 27, 2012 by pantheory

[Theodious78]

Hello all,

 

Well, with the ION drive now in our satellites making their way around our solar system, we might actually make it to that planet in oh say five hundred years or so. We might even catch on with making a drive out of a collider one day to go faster than the speed of light. Who knows.... But I do know this.... The way science fiction is turning into science fact so fast these days, we will catch up to the point that we do go faster than the speed of light some day. Just look at the star trek series. Voyager, Next Generation, Deep Space 9... they all had tablets, and laptops everywhere.... present day.... we have tablets and laptops at work, working on daily things. So, in reality, we will catch up probably sooner than later with light speed travel.

 

Sincerely,

Adam

[JohnStu]

Getting there is gonna be a severe issue. There is definately water there if it has an atmosphere similar to that of Earth and 22 degree Celcious. Water is a common substance for fairly decent size planets.