The search for habitable exoplanets in Alpha Centauri

In October 2012, astronomers announced the discovery of an exoplanet orbiting the star Alpha Centauri B. However, three years later, they concluded that it probably doesn’t exist. In 2013, astronomers also detected another possible exoplanet, but it hasn’t been confirmed yet. As of today, no exoplanets have been discovered around Alpha Centauri A or B.


There are several ongoing projects to search for habitable exoplanets in Alpha Centauri:


The Expresso spectrograph, which started operating in October 2018, is able to detect radial velocities of less than 10 cm/s.

Another promising instrument is called NEAR, which stands for Near Earths in the AlphaCen Region. NEAR is a thermal infrared coronagraph that blocks most of the light coming from Alpha Centauri in order to resolve possible exoplanets around the star. This coronagraph can detect exoplanets 2 times the radius of the Earth.


Project Blue is another interesting project that might help us discover the closest Earth-like planet. It is a small space telescope with a coronagraph that will directly image the habitable zones of the Alpha Centauri system. The telescope will be able to detect exoplanets between 0.5 and 1.5 times the radius of the Earth. The launch of the telescope is expected to take place in 2023.


NASA is also working on a space telescope with coronagraph called ACEND, which stands for Alpha Centauri Direct Imager.


Breakthrough Initiatives is now working on a space telescope called TOLIBOY that will use astrometry to map the motion of the Alpha Centauri stars and search for a perturbation in the positions. The telescope is expected to be launched in 2021.


Source: www.youtube.com...

Do you think all the agencies and companies should join efforts and build just 1 big space coronagraph, or, as they seem to be doing now, work on different ones?

a reply to: alfa015

I love this kind of stuff. I have been wanting to make a post about habitable worlds and the ethical dilemma of finding a world with life. It would almost certainly require destroying the life on that world for Earth life to live there.

Separate scopes.

Some organizations have hunches, while others have a charted path.

No use making them lock horns for time on the same machine.

originally posted by: OccamsRazor04
a reply to: alfa015

I love this kind of stuff. I have been wanting to make a post about habitable worlds and the ethical dilemma of finding a world with life. It would almost certainly require destroying the life on that world for Earth life to live there.

Or we find something that didn't know about us and we regret it! Be careful who you invite to the party because you never know what they will bring to it!

a reply to: RP2SticksOfDynamite

What if it is just cellular/plant type life. Do we destroy it? The odds of it being compatible with Earth life is pretty remote.

originally posted by: OccamsRazor04
a reply to: RP2SticksOfDynamite

What if it is just cellular/plant type life. Do we destroy it? The odds of it being compatible with Earth life is pretty remote.

Whatever we find might not be kind! Would we or earths environment be!

So are we going to cut our hair like this and colonize those planets?

a reply to: makemap

Actually I already look like that when I get up in the morning's.

One of the best sci fi show's.


To my mind if the stars formed in a nebulae they would have had an accretion disc, barring some strange formation therefore it is likely that most stars of a certain size will have planets but the problem is detecting them, there size - would we class them as planets and of course how much material the alien solar systems had to form during there early lives.

Interaction with other nearby stars may also play havoc with the orbit of any such planets and could also even disrupt the formation of them if two or more stars were to form in close proximity though this would also mean that despite the interference of there gravitation there would have been more than ample material to form planetary body's orbiting them, how stable those orbits would have been though and the possibility that though they may have formed they may then have been ripped apart again or even expelled to become rogue planets is an interesting one to ponder.

One of my hopes when we return to the moon is they build an array of telescopes on the backside. It would cut down on a lot of interference and have a stable platform.

Thanks for your answers!

Thanks for your answers!

originally posted by: makemap
So are we going to cut our hair like this and colonize those planets?

I already have that haircut, so I guess I'm halfway there.

originally posted by: Grimpachi
One of my hopes when we return to the moon is they build an array of telescopes on the backside. It would cut down on a lot of interference and have a stable platform.

The cool thing is we could have little metal-weaving spider robots build them in a nice parabolic crater and it would probably be more affordable and easier than expected.

originally posted by: Blue Shift

originally posted by: makemap
So are we going to cut our hair like this and colonize those planets?

I already have that haircut, so I guess I'm halfway there.

A Centauri! Narn brothers we must kill him now!

originally posted by: makemap
So are we going to cut our hair like this and colonize those planets?

Only if the emperor isn't a nutty pompous ass, and any potential Regents aren't nuts. And neither are under alien influence.

originally posted by: Grimpachi
One of my hopes when we return to the moon is they build an array of telescopes on the backside. It would cut down on a lot of interference and have a stable platform.

That would be great !