 |
Valerians, Your Heavy Gravity Planet Has Been Found
Researchers from University of Hertfordshire and the University of Goettingen have found a hitherto unknown heavy gravity world that is in the habitable zone to support life - and Dutch colonists from Earth.
( Super-Earth HD40307g alongside its host star [Credit: J. Pinfield])
Star HD40307 has been checked out before, and in the first investigation, three massive planets were found - but all of them were fiery worlds orbiting too close to their sun to have water or life on their surfaces.Now, astronomers Mikko Tuomi of the University of Hertfordshire and Guillem Anglada-Escude of the University of Goettingen have found three more planets in the system, one in the habitable zone of the star, where liquid water could exist.
"The longer orbit of the new planet means that its climate and atmosphere may be just right to support life," Hugh Jones, also a researcher at Hertfordshire, said. "Just as Goldilocks liked her porridge to be neither too hot nor too cold but just right, this planet or indeed any moons that it has lie in an orbit comparable to Earth, increasing the probability of it being habitable."
The boffins calculate that HD40307g has about seven times the mass of Earth, and lies at such a distance from HD40307 that it isn't "tidally locked" with one face constantly pointed at its sun - thus it has days and nights, and is potentially much more hospitable to life. The scientists don't know how large it is, or even for sure that it is a rocky world like ours, which makes it hard to say just how strong the gravity on the surface might be. However it seems safe to say that if the planet is indeed rocky it probably has a much stronger surface gravity than Earth does - probably several Gs or more, depending how much larger it is, which would make it hard for un-adapted humans to live there (having got there somehow). Any resident aliens or future human colonists would probably be extremely physically powerful compared to Earth residents, along the lines of the heavy-world people or lifeforms found in science fiction*.
EE 'Doc' Smith was one of many science fiction authors who were fascinated with the idea of habitable planets with heavy gravity; he wrote about dutch colonists from a heavy gravity planet called Valeria in his 1937 classic Galactic Patrol:
Sergeant Peter van Buskirk led the storming party of Valerians-men of human ancestry, but of extraordinary size, strength, and agility because of the enormous gravitation of the planet Valeria-in wiping out those of the pirate crew not killed in the battle between the two vessels.”
Another example is Jinx, one of Larry Niven's creations from his Known Space stories. Jinx is a satellite of a gas giant named Binary in the Sirius A system. Jinx has a surface gravity of about 1.78 times Earth normal.
Via the Register; thanks to an anonymous tipster who clued me into this story.
Scroll down for more stories in the same category. (Story submitted 11/9/2012)
Follow this kind of news @Technovelgy.| Email | RSS | Blog It | Stumble | del.icio.us | Digg | Reddit |
Would
you like to contribute a story tip?
It's easy:
Get the URL of the story, and the related sf author, and add
it here.
Comment/Join discussion (Back On) ( 1 )
Related News Stories - (" Space Tech ")
Snowboarding On Mars? Heinlein Was Ready
How long ago did Robert Heinlein write about skiing on dry alien worlds?
Could Ground-Based Lasers De-Orbit Space Junk?
'Then their lasers vaporized the smaller satellites...'- Arthur C. Clarke, 1978.
The Interplanetary Internet, Vint Cerf Speaking
'This was the center of Interplanetary Communications.'- George O. Smith, 1942.
30-Day Trip To Mars?
'The Federation Ship Champion... made the crossing under Lyle Drive in only nineteen days.'- Robert Heinlein, 1961.
Technovelgy (that's tech-novel-gee!) is devoted to the creative science inventions and ideas of sf authors. Look for the Invention Category that interests you, the Glossary, the Invention Timeline, or see what's New.
Current News
Is Noam Chomsky As Paranoid As Philip K. Dick?
'I'm Bill Behren... Operator of fly 33408...'
Low-Cost, Implantable Electronics Get Closer
Better coatings need to become a reality.
'Marauder's Map' Created By Carnegie Melllon
'Is that Dumbledore in his study?'
Cheetah Cub Robot From PKD's Android Dreams
'What about an exact electric duplicate of your cat?'
Dead Cellphone? Try Solar-Powered Public Charging Stations
'Then he saw the geek ... leaning against one of the slender stalks of a sunshade-photocell collector...'
Hungry? Grow Nutritious Insects At Home
'...I balked when my wife served me termites.'
Snowboarding On Mars? Heinlein Was Ready
How long ago did Robert Heinlein write about skiing on dry alien worlds?
Orwell's '1984' Hits Bestseller Lists Thanks To PRISM
'There was of course no way of knowing whether you were being watched at any given moment.'
Roboroach Control? There's An App For That
'A cable, here, from the controller to the interface plug... wires from that to the brain.'
Court OK's DNA Collection Like 'Gattaca'
DNA sampling is not the same as fingerprinting.
Squid Vs. Whale Diorama Liked By Humans, Aliens
'Everything was ready, awaiting the Overlords' pleasure...'
Iceberg Harvesting Off Newfoundland's Coast
'Five hundred billion gallons worth of Antarctic iceberg had been towed into Santa Monica Bay.'
Sony's A4-Sized Flexible Digital Paper Notepad
'...he would plug his foolscap-sized Newspad into the ship's information circuit and scan the latest reports...'
Contact Lens Video Display Electronics Now Transparent
'He realized that it was not quite a clear lens. Speckles of colored brightness swirled and gathered in it...'
Tesla's Supercharge Station Plan
'To recharge the batteries, which can be done in almost every town and village...'
Millimeter-Scale Computing For 'Internet of Things'
'In their megalomania they thought to make the very sand beneath their feet intelligent...'
