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carewemust wrote:
The obstacles and unknowns of traveling to objects that are light-years away, boggles my laymen mind. Maybe if we could travel FAST ENOUGH, and had some type of viewer to see how a star system is doing at that moment, I wouldn't be so dumbfounded.
But what star system would be the best-chance target, with an Earth-like planet, based on what we know now?
Sadly, you're probably right, LonnyZone. The aliens see us a dangerous barbarians who need to stay right where we are until we humans can get our act together. They're just stopping here for a look at lower lifeforms (humans), take a few readings, re-charge their (?) in Earth's thunderstorms, and continue on their way.
Loonyzone wrote:
"I didn't like (thinking third person here) what I saw so instead of just erasing them, I decided that they deserve a chance to get it right, our interferance should be taken into account also as Causality effect may have altered them and their awareness. So because these earthlings think they are so smart, we'll just keep them at bay until they can figure things out for themselves."
But what star system would be the best-chance target, with an Earth-like planet, based on what we know now?
1. Kepler 438b Kepler 438b (ESI=0.88) has the highest ESI of any exoplanet known. Discovered in 2015 around a red dwarf star, significantly smaller and cooler than our sun, it has a radius only 12% larger than Earth’s. It orbits the star, which is 470 light years from Earth, every 35 days and is in its habitable zone, the region around a star which is neither too hot nor too cold for orbiting planets to support liquid water on the surface. As with other discoveries by Kepler around faint stars, the planet’s mass has not been measured, but if its composition is rocky, it may be only 1.4 times that of the Earth’s with a surface temperature between 0°C and 60°C. However, the ESI is not a foolproof method for classifying the Earth-like nature of a planet. It has recently been found that Kepler 438b’s host star regularly sends out powerful flares of radiation, which may render the planet uninhabitable after all.
2. Gliese 667Cc Gliese 667Cc (ESI=0.85) was discovered in 2011 orbiting a red dwarf in the Gliese 667 triple star system, just 24 light years away. It was found by the radial velocity method, which is a measure of the small movement a star makes as it responds to the gravitational tug of the planet. The planet’s mass has been estimated at 3.8 times the Earth’s, but we don’t know its size. This is because the planet does not pass in front of the star, which would allow us to measure the planet’s radius. With an orbital period of 28 days, it sits in the habitable zone of this cool star, with a possible surface temperature of around 5°C.
3. Kepler 442b Kepler 442b(ESI=0.84) is a planet 1.3 times the size of the Earth discovered in 2015. It is orbiting a star cooler than the sun, about 1100 light years away. Its orbital period of 112 days places it in its star’s habitable zone, but with a surface temperature that could be as low as -40°C. However, by comparison, the temperature on Mars can be -125°C near its poles in the winter. Once again, the exoplanet’s mass is not known, but if it has a rocky composition, it may be only 2.3 times the mass of the Earth. Artist’s impression of Kepler as it looks at planets transiting distant stars. NASA Ames/ W Stenzel/wikimedia
4. Kepler 62e & 62f These two planets (ESI=0.83 & 0.67) were discovered in 2013 with the Kepler telescope, which spotted their transits in front of their host star. This star, located about 1200 light years away from us, is somewhat cooler than the sun. With planetary radii of 1.6 and 1.4 times that of the Earth respectively, their orbital periods of 122 and 267 days mean that they both fall within the star’s habitable zone. As with many other planets discovered by Kepler, their masses have not been measured, but are estimated at over 30 times the mass of the Earth in each case. The temperatures of each could permit liquid water to exist on their surfaces, depending on their atmospheric composition.
5. Kepler 452b Kepler 452b (ESI=0.83) was discovered in 2015 and was the first potentially Earth-like planet orbiting in the habitable zone of a star similar to our Sun. The planet’s radius is 1.6 times that of the Earth and it takes 385 days to orbit its star, which is 1400 light years away. Because the star is too faint to measure its movement due to the gravitational tug by Kepler 452b, the planet’s mass is unknown. However it has been predicted to be at least five times that of the Earth and the planet’s surface temperature is estimated between -20°C and +10°C.