ANOTHER earth like planet,and it's (realively) close!

[tuscaneer]

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2...


edited for godawful spelling...don't talk on the phone while posting stuff on the internet!!

reading that,a very short orbit though, 28 days! that must be going like the clappers!

Edited by tuscaneer on Friday 3rd February 08:57

[Eric Mc]

Hmmm - seems rather unearthlike to me.

Still, one of these things seems to be located at least every fortnight at the moment. A true earthlike planet will be discovered within the next 3 to 4 years.

[tuscaneer]

yeah, if it's orbiting in 28 days it must be a lot closer to the star than i would expect the habitable zone to be in?

[AshVX220]

tuscaneer said:

yeah, if it's orbiting in 28 days it must be a lot closer to the star than i would expect the habitable zone to be in?

I guess it depends how hot they think the star is.

[tuscaneer]

AshVX220 said:

I guess it depends how hot they think the star is.

yeah,you're right mate..i'm just assuming that the class of star it is is the same as our sun.but,granted,it could be at a different point in it's life to the sun

[Eric Mc]

It must be quite a small and dim star for the habitable zone to be that close.

It's also a triple star system which would complicate matters further. Big planets orbiting small stars are easier to detect compared to small planets orbiting big(ish) stars.

[Einion Yrth]

Eric Mc said:

It must be quite a small and dim star for the habitable zone to be that close.

It's also a triple star system which would complicate matters further. Big planets orbiting small stars are easier to detect compared to small planets orbiting big(ish) stars.

True enough, but you forgot 'with short years', swift periodicity is a god-send for current detection methods.

[Eric Mc]

Einion Yrth said:

Eric Mc said:

It must be quite a small and dim star for the habitable zone to be that close.

It's also a triple star system which would complicate matters further. Big planets orbiting small stars are easier to detect compared to small planets orbiting big(ish) stars.

True enough, but you forgot 'with short years', swift periodicity is a god-send for current detection methods.

Yes - whatever prodices a detectable wobble to the star.

[R300will]

AshVX220 said:

tuscaneer said:

yeah, if it's orbiting in 28 days it must be a lot closer to the star than i would expect the habitable zone to be in?

I guess it depends how hot they think the star is.

Its star is classed as a dwarf i think so it can be closer to it and therefore have a quicker orbit but still be habitable

[Eric Mc]

R300will said:

AshVX220 said:

tuscaneer said:

yeah, if it's orbiting in 28 days it must be a lot closer to the star than i would expect the habitable zone to be in?

I guess it depends how hot they think the star is.

Its star is classed as a dwarf i think so it can be closer to it and therefore have a quicker orbit but still be habitable

Theoretically. We don't know for sure how much a fast orbital period (i.e. a very short year) would affect climate on the planet. If the planet has a tilt like earth, imagine racing through all four seasons in 28 days. Each season would last seven days.

[R300will]

Eric Mc said:

R300will said:

AshVX220 said:

tuscaneer said:

yeah, if it's orbiting in 28 days it must be a lot closer to the star than i would expect the habitable zone to be in?

I guess it depends how hot they think the star is.

Its star is classed as a dwarf i think so it can be closer to it and therefore have a quicker orbit but still be habitable

Theoretically. We don't know for sure how much a fast orbital period (i.e. a very short year) would affect climate on the planet. If the planet has a tilt like earth, imagine racing through all four seasons in 28 days. Each season would last seven days.

Might it reach an equilibrium temperature?

[Eric Mc]

R300will said:

Might it reach an equilibrium temperature?

Maybe. We don't really uinderstand the atmospheric dynamics that operate in such extreme environments.

My hunch is that wind speeds and currents would be extremely powerful and very difficult for biology to cope with. One thing we can't see at the moment is the rotational axes of these planets and the speed at which they rotate on these axes.

[Eric Mc]

Bedazzled said:

Eric Mc said:

Theoretically. We don't know for sure how much a fast orbital period (i.e. a very short year) would affect climate on the planet. If the planet has a tilt like earth, imagine racing through all four seasons in 28 days. Each season would last seven days.

A planet orbiting that close to a star is also likely to be tidally locked (same side always facing the sun), but if life was able to get started it would just evolve and adapt to the environment.

Perhaps.

We just don't know enough yet.

How long after formation would it take for a close orbiting planet to become tidally locked to its parent star?