Space stuff thread

'Earth 2.0' found in Nasa Kepler telescope haul

A haul of planets from Nasa's Kepler telescope includes a world sharing many characteristics with Earth.

Kepler-452b orbits at a very similar distance from its star, though its radius is 60% larger.

Mission scientists said they believed it was the most Earth-like planet yet.

Such worlds are of interest to astronomers because they might be small and cool enough to host liquid water on their surface - and might therefore be hospitable to life.

Nasa's science chief John Grunsfeld called the new world the "closest so far" to Earth.

More: 'Earth 2.0' found in Nasa Kepler telescope haul - BBC News

Hmmm...With a ratio of Mass (m) 5 ±2 M⊕, I'd weigh anywhere from 3/4T to 1.5T; And no, I'm not tellin' my starting weight.

Humans could potentially survive in Kepler 452b's stronger gravity

The new planet is slightly larger than Earth, and is estimated to have twice the gravitational pull of our own planet. However, according to the scientists on the Kepler team, this doesn't mean it couldn't support life.

Kepler 452b was named after the telescope that spotted it, the Kepler space telescope Jon Jenkins said that humans could "adapt" to the gravity, possibly becoming "more stocky over many generations."

"People already adapt to heavy weights - humans are built to do this kind of thing. The human body has an amazing ability to repair itself - so over time, humans could adapt."

Source, 'bout half way down here: Earth 2.0: What we know about Kepler 452b, the most Earth-like planet ever discovered - Science - News - The Independent

Hell, I'm stocky enough as it is.

Source Of Mass ratio, right sidebar of: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kepler-452b

See Kari anad Steve beat me to it (but I have been crook all day) have been watching this today and want to go there NASA: This planet is the closest thing to Earth yet - CNET

Freeze me up ready Scotty LOL!!

Get your name added. :)

NASA's giving you another chance to send your name to Mars - CNET

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Brink said:

Get your name added. :)

NASA's giving you another chance to send your name to Mars - CNET

Thanks for sharing Shawn :)

Save us a seat Kari, we might be running late:

A rare occurrence having them both in a two week time frame. My apologies, the Solar eclipse should be over as I post this.

A partial solar eclipse will darken the skies above southern Africa early Sunday (Sept. 13), and the entire world can watch the spectacle live online.

Sunday's eclipse will be visible to observers throughout South Africa, as well as people in the southern parts of Mozambique, Zambia, Zimbabwe and Madagascar. But wherever you are, you can view the eclipse live thanks to a free webcast hosted by the Slooh Community Observatory. The Slooh show begins at 12:30 a.m. EDT (0430 GMT) Sunday and can be viewed live on Slooh.com along with the observatory's archive of night sky webcasts. It will run through 5 a.m. EDT (0900 GMT), with the time of maximum eclipse expected at 3 a.m. EDT (0700 GMT).

You can also watch the solar eclipse live on Space.com, courtesy of Slooh. The webcast will feature Slooh astronomer Bob Berman and solar researcher Lucie Green. [Solar Eclipses: An Observer's Guide (Infographic)]

The best time for Sunday's partial solar eclipse comes at 2:54 a.m. EDT (0654 GMT), when the moon will cover 79 percent of the sun's diameter as seen from one spot in Antarctica. But viewers in populated areas won't see such a dramatic effect. For example, NASA eclipse expert Fred Espenak calculates that, above the South African city of Cape Town, the moon will blot out a maximum of 30 percent of the solar disk.

In Cape Town, incidentally, the eclipse will begin as the sun and moon are rising at 6:49 a.m. local time (12:49 a.m. EDT; 0449 GMT), reach its maximum extent at 7:43 a.m. local time and end at 8:49 a.m. For more information about timing in other parts of Africa, consult Espenak's eclipse site.


Source: http://Watch Sunday's Partial Solar Eclipse Live in Slooh Webcast | www.space.com

Then on the 28th.

The first "supermoon" lunar eclipse in more than three decades will grace Earth's skies this month, as will a partial solar eclipse that most of the world will miss.

The supermoon total lunar eclipse, which occurs on Sept. 27, features a full moon that looks significantly larger and brighter than usual. It will be the first supermoon eclipse since 1982, and the last until 2033, NASA officials said in a newly released video.

The total lunar eclipse will be visible to observers throughout the Americas, Europe, Africa, western Asia and the eastern Pacific Ocean region. [‪How Lunar Eclipses Work (Infographic)]

Source:http://Rare 'Supermoon' Total Lunar Eclipse Coming This Month | www.space.com

I got to thinking my post of the upcoming Lunar eclipse may not be clear so here's an attempt to rectify that.

September 27 / September 28, 2015 — Total Lunar Eclipse

In the US, Canada, and Central and South America, this Total Lunar Eclipse
will begin on the evening of September 27, 2015.

In Europe, South/East Asia, Africa, the Arctic, and in the Pacific, Atlantic, and Indian Oceans it starts on September 28, 2015.

For about 1 hr and 12 minutes, this Blood Moon will be totally eclipsed. Is this Total Lunar Eclipse visible in Harrisburg?

The times displayed might be a minute or two off actual times.



* The Moon is above the horizon during this eclipse, so with good weather conditions in Washington DC, the entire eclipse is visible.

Total duration of the eclipse is 5 hours, 11 minutes.

Total duration of the partial phases is 2 hours, 8 minutes.

Duration of the full eclipse is 1 hour, 12 minutes.

Source: September 27 / September 28, 2015 ? Total Lunar Eclipse ? Where and when to see

To help figuring out what your time is compared to Washington DC you can use this calculator: Time Zone Converter ? Time Difference Calculator

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Hmm I was just reading an article on Mars and those pics Kari has posted were featured. But being a rather cynical individual I still cannot see apart from some of the health tech stuff that comes out of space exploration why are we so intent on landing on Mars or any other body for that matter.

Three things occur to me and that is even if the planet was made of solid gold or some other valuable commodity and we needed it how do you get it back to Earth?
The other thing is also even if we could find some way of giving the planet a breathable atmosphere what effect would the lower gravity have on our bodies?
Lastly given the Sun is eventually going to give out swallow the Earth possibly melt Mars and then leave behind a space that is too cold for life why are we spending so much time, effort, resources, and money on these projects when those commodities could be better utilized on Earth to make life here better than it is?
We would be far better off putting all that effort into making power sources such as fusion and renewable ones - not to mention treating life threatening health issues a priority.

Sorry but again very interesting but useful not in my mind.

It just seems to me even though I find it interesting how they do thee things it is being done for the sake of plain curiosity on the part of the intellectual science community