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Back in August 2016 astronomers and alien life advocates were leaping for joy when an Earth-sized planet was discovered in a providential orbit around a not-so-distant star, currently refered to as Proxima Centauri b. A new era in the search for alternative life in metropolitan space was about to evolve.



By the way the discovery of Proxima Centauri b has other repercussions, for example the topic title adds a third definition to the dictionary of alienation, determined as I am to logically push the boundaries of the English language.

alienation

noun
1. the state or experience of being alienated.

'a sense of alienation from our environment'

synonyms: isolation, detachment, estrangement, distance, separation, severance, parting, division,
divorce, cutting off, turning away, withdrawal; etc

2.
LAW

the transfer of the ownership of property rights.

'most leases contain restrictions against alienation'

synonyms: transfer, conveyance, passing on, handing over, devolution

3.
INTERPLANETARY

The population of other planets with alien life forms

' we are in the process of determining the alienation of Proxima Centauri b'

synonyms: alien census

Let’s face it there simply has to be some life form out there possessed of superior intelligence to help human kind out, given the current dangerously erratic behaviour of so called Earth-based leaders as the abyss of social and political division widens on literally every continent. Anyway as usual I digress......

Proxima Centauri, the star closest to the sun, has a planet within its orbit that has a ‘Just Discovered’ sign hung around its neck. Not only that, but said planet could potentially have water in physical liquid form flowing across its surface. On the one hand it may turn out to be a starkly barren rock devoid of an atmosphere, the presence of air and water does not necessarily make this new world habitable, but on the other it just might be a home to alien life and has probably lifted the spirits of a several million researchers and enthusiasts. Rory Barnes, at the University of Washington epitomises this spirited reaction. ‘WE’VE been wondering what planet we’re first going to look for life on. Now we know,’ he opines, nicely put Rory..



Scientists discovered that the planet, which lies a ‘mere’ four light-years from Earth and therefore a credible distance for a visit by spaceship one day, has potentially Earth-like qualities. However until that investigative trip becomes a reality, astronomers will use an extremely large telescope to establish whether there is actually water on the planet’s surface as it orbits Proxima Centauri.

Nonetheless, what is probably more exciting about this new world is not what is known, virtually nothing thus far, but what is as yet unknown and the sheer raw potential it may hold. The vague chance that there is other life that human kind might recognise from 40 trillion kilometres away provides a distinct thrill of possibilities.

And if not alien life then a credible transportable water source that could one day supplement the resources of our own steadily dehydrating planet, from a location that is close enough in the context of the immense distances of space to mean that we might viably send probes to collect and even transport samples.

I wonder if the radial-velocity data can be used to establish the probability that the planet is in a transiting orbit around Proxima.

And I wonder what sort of habitable zones that planet has, if its retained sufficient water. Being tidally locked, I figure there is an annulus separating the day and night sides which is sufficiently shielded by the atmosphere to allow life we would recognize. There could be specialized biota which thrive well out onto the sunlit side, and entirely different ones which live in the twilight zone on the dark side.

Now lets see how many hardcore sf fans we have here. Who can tell me, without recourse to Google, the name of a planet tidally locked to its star in a well known science fiction series?

What Art Thyne Laws?...

Sounds like a good spot to practice terraforming if Mars turns out to be worthless.

I don't reckon Centauri life, if there is any on B, is going to be sentient. The planet seems to hostile.

Nazheek wrote: 07 Mar 2017 12:28 Sounds like a good spot to practice terraforming if Mars turns out to be worthless.
test link
I don't reckon Centauri life, if there is any on B, is going to be sentient. The planet seems to hostile.

Yeah if there is life there I doubt it will be anything to get excited about.

Welcome to Maestas and Anitadic to the Oracle Forum, in the case of Anitadic I may risk repeating myself in that respect, but no matter, there is nothing better than a double welcome to lift the day I say and thank you both for your contributions, and that gratitude goes out to prolific members Nazheek and Packajos000 who also contributed to this topic thread. Although, wherefore art thou Packajos000 in recent times, for we have missed thy mind set and thinking patterns sorely of late!

Having been face down in a burst of Proxima Centauri latest research, I have to admit my optimism has been somewhat dashed in terms in terms of habitability. However, not so much in the area of harvesting natural resources to supplement those on earth longer term, other than distance, transporter technology and capacity, therefore the win/no win factor relative to squandering of Earth bound resources fuelling the round trip versus the value of elemental material received to be contributed to our planet's exchequer.

Starting with stellar wind pressures 2,000 times greater than those experienced by Earth from the solar wind. Creating a vicious combination of this level of radiation and stellar winds that would more than likely blow any friendly atmosphere away, logically leaving the undersurface as the only potentially habitable location on the planet.

Nonetheless, the exoplanet is is orbiting within the habitable segment of Proxima Centauri, as in the zone where, given the correct melding formula between planetary conditions and atmospheric properties, liquid water may exist on the planet's surface. Researchers at France's CNRS research institute stated in October 2016 that there is a significant chance that the planet already supports surface oceans and owns a thin atmosphere. Although, a hypothesis difficult to test unless the planet transits the physical Earth-facing side of it's star, as in visibility.

While Proxima Centauri b as an exostar resides in the habitable zone, the planet's habitability has been called into question due to a number of potentially hazardous physical conditions.

For example the exoplanet is close enough to its host star that it might be tidally locked. If this proves to be the case, then expectations are that any habitable areas would be limited to the border region between the two extreme sides, customarily referred to as the terminator line. This view is based on the premise that it is only in this region that temperatures might be suitable for liquid water to exist. Astrophysicists point out that if the planet's orbital eccentricity is found to be 0, then this could result in synchronous rotation, with one outward excessively hot side permanently facing towards the star, while the opposite side remains in permanent darkness and subject to freezing cold.

Yet the possibility of a high metallic content given a rocky consistency like Earth along with water potential could be established in the relatively near future through a public-private adoption of Russian entrepeneur Yuri Milners plans to develop and launch a fleet of miniature unmanned spacecraft known as StarChips, 20 years represents the outward journey with notification of arrival reaching earth 4 years later.