In the constellation Libra, there may be a planet suitable for life
American astronomers have discovered a habitable planet at a ridiculous distance from Earth on a universal scale - only 20 light years away. A cosmic body in the constellation of Libra was seen by a group of planetary hunters from the University of California Santa Cruz and the Carnegie Institution.
Living conditions
While examining the system of the red dwarf Gliese 581 with a high-resolution spectrograph, scientists have previously discovered four planets, marked as b, c, d, e. But quite recently, astronomers managed to analyze the data of eleven years of observations, and as a result, they announced that they had found two more cosmic bodies - g and f. And if planet f turned out to be quite large, then Gliese 581g, according to scientists, is very similar to Earth. Its diameter is estimated at 1.2 times that of the earth, and its mass is 3.1 times that of the earth. These data allowed the professor of astronomy and astrophysics Stephen Vogt of the University of California to suggest that the planet is mainly composed of rocks, and therefore has such a large mass. According to astronomers, Gliese 581g is located in the so-called habitable zone of its star, where the rays can maintain the temperature,similar to the one that the Sun provides to the Earth. However, this planet is always turned to its luminary by only one side, which is why one of its side is in the permafrost zone with a temperature of about 34 degrees below zero, and the other, on the contrary, is heated to 71 degrees. “But the territories located between the night and day parts are quite suitable for a comfortable existence of life,” Steven Vogt is sure. In this buffer zone, the average temperature is about 5 degrees Celsius, which means there may be liquid water there.quite suitable for a comfortable existence of life ", - Steven Vogt is sure. In this buffer zone, the average temperature is about 5 degrees Celsius, which means there may be liquid water there.are quite suitable for a comfortable existence of life ", - Steven Vogt is sure. In this buffer zone, the average temperature is about 5 degrees Celsius, which means there may be liquid water there.
In turn, the mass of the planet, comparable to that of the earth, speaks in favor of the fact that it should have the same atmosphere as ours. After all, if a planet is massive, like, for example, Jupiter, then it holds around itself a lot of gas - hydrogen and helium. “This is a terrible atmosphere, you can't live in it,” says Vladimir Surdin, a senior researcher at the P. K. Sternberg State Astronomical Institute, Moscow State University, Candidate of Physical and Mathematical Sciences. - A small space body is not capable of holding gas at all. But a mass in several Earths is what is needed to attract something like our atmosphere: moderately dense, just suitable for life."
In principle, according to Stephen Vogt, his group was able to find in Gliese 581g two basic qualities necessary for the origin and existence of life - water in a liquid state and the atmosphere. At least, according to scientists, it was thanks to these qualities that all living things appeared and could develop on Earth. Moreover, the planetary system of the star Gliese 581 must be older than the solar system. And although its exact age cannot be determined, astronomers know that red dwarfs live almost indefinitely. “It may be three times older than the Sun,” says Vladimir Surdin. If we assume that the found planet is inhabited, then the civilization on it should be at least three times more developed than ours.
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Visibly invisible
Here it seems like the time has come to collect the expedition and fly headlong to, perhaps, the older brothers in mind. But the flight to Gliese will take about … 550 thousand years with modern technical capabilities. The speed of spaceships is 27 thousand times lower than the speed of light. In addition, their European colleagues are in no hurry to share the optimism of the Americans. At a meeting of the International Astronomical Union in Turin, Geneva Observatory employee Francesco Pepe said that he and his team were never able to see Gliese 581g in their telescope at the La Silla Observatory in Chile.
What prevents the old dream of mankind from coming true to find an inhabited planet in another star system? The problem lies in the way of research. Indeed, until now, out of 500 found exoplanets (planets located outside the solar system), only 12 have been seen in optical telescopes and photographed. The rest were found using spectrographs, studying the oscillations of stars. “If a planet flies around the star, then the star moves a little due to the attraction to the planet, and the line in the spectrum moves slightly to the right and left because of the Doppler effect,” explains Vladimir Surdin. The planets themselves are almost impossible to see due to their small size, besides, the star Gliese 581 is rather weak, poorly illuminates the bodies around it.
The likelihood of error in the detection of exoplanets also exists due to the fact that sometimes the stars' own breath is taken for the oscillations of the star caused by the planets. It can expand and contract, which interferes with the analysis. The situation with the Gliese 581 system is complicated by the fact that astronomers had to extract data on the two new planets from the general background of the four bodies already found orbiting the star. Francesco Pepe insists on the possibility of a mistake. According to him, "the amplitude of the Gliese 581g signal is too small, almost at the level of the measurement error."
Meanwhile, Stephen Vogt is optimistic. He is sure that in our galaxy, 10 to 20 percent of all star systems should have potentially habitable planets. Taking into account the number of stars in the Milky Way, the astronomer calculated that there could be tens of billions of Earth's twins. Is life possible on them? This problem is of interest not only to astronomers, but also to scientists of other specialties all over the world. And every year the scale in this matter is shifting more and more to the positive side.
Useful noise
For example, if earlier scientists believed that planets are formed from sand and water, and billions of years must pass before the birth of other organic molecules, today astrophysicists have found out that giant preplanetary formations are molecular clouds. “That is, in the building material, not sand and water, but the most complex molecules,” explains Sergei Smirnov, senior researcher at the Main (Pulkovo) Astronomical Observatory of the Russian Academy of Sciences. It turns out that hydrocarbon compounds exist in a pre-planetary state. And when a celestial body arose, the building material was already represented in whole blocks on it. Life can appear faster with a much higher probability, that is, it makes sense to search for more than just a planet similar to Earth, with a lifeless ocean. “We already know that there is at least a very nutritious broth,” continues Smirnov.
If the views of scientists are so optimistic and there is even a planet on which the existence of civilization is possible, then its detection is just a matter of technology. Vladimir Surdin asserts that "any civilization somehow makes a noise about itself in the radio and optical range." For example, powerful radio signals are constantly emitted from the Earth into space. As a rule, they come from military radars that probe near-earth space. They can be received from a great distance, and it is obvious that they are artificial. “These are short powerful pulses, very narrow-band, which could be received by modern equipment at a distance of even 100 light years, and in theory they should reach almost the other end of our galaxy,” says Vladimir Surdin.
In addition to radio signals, an inhabited planet with a developed civilization must emit laser beams. And a similar beam just from the area of the supposed orbit of Gliese 581g was received by the Australian astronomer Ragbir Bhatal two years ago, although then his message was not taken seriously. However, everything may change with the discovery of this planet. And if in 2008 no one checked Bhatal's data, now astronomers have a real chance to discover not only a new celestial body, but also to prove that earthlings are not alone in the Universe.
Great expectations
Right to exist Sergei Krichevsky, test cosmonaut, candidate of technical sciences, full member of the Russian Academy of Cosmonautics. K. E. Tsiolkovsky:
- Since recently ideas about in-depth research and even exploration of some cosmic bodies have been heard more and more often, humanity first of all needs to develop the rules of the game. I propose at the UN level to adopt a convention for the protection of the wildlife in outer space. Its legal status should correspond to the status of the Earth's wilderness and be based on the basic principles of natural heritage and on the extension of basic human rights not only to terrestrial but also to extraterrestrial life. Since the absence of extraterrestrial life has not been proven, then proceeding from the precautionary principle and the presumption of the danger of any human activity, it is necessary to recognize its possibility and the reality of its various forms throughout outer space. We must recognize the right of cosmic life forms to exist.
Vladimir Igritsky, Candidate of Technical Sciences, Associate Professor of the Department of Launch Missile Systems, Moscow State Technical University N. E. Bauman:
- The equipment and technologies that we have now, in the foreseeable future, will not allow us to obtain a flight speed of more than one hundredth of the speed of light. And if we do not find anything new, then, most likely, we will be able to send only probes over such distances. Even in 100 years or more, they will fly. I envision the use of antimatter as a fuel component as promising solutions. But you still need to learn how to produce and store it in large quantities. She is the only one of us so far known that allows you to create such high reserves of energy to fly long distances at an acceptable speed. Also, many in the scientific community have high hopes for issues related to the geometry of space. String theory and others like it are largely based on the fact that we are not so simple with the number of dimensions. The so-called curved movement is being studied. But these are still theoretical possibilities, not confirmed by experiment.