Just a model
Remember that: it’s just a model.
But this is way too cool to ignore: Researchers performing planetary formation models on the Alpha Centauri system have found that every way they’ve run their models, they show Alpha Centauri B to have planets, and many times that happens, there’s a rocky planet within the distance to make water a liquid.
In other words, the model predicts that it’s highly likely that Alpha Centauri B has a rocky, watery planet at the right distance from one or the other of the suns to support life.
Whoa.
For those who don’t know, Alpha Centauri is the nearest star to our solar system, at 4.3 light years away. Right now, of course, we haven’t got the technology to get there in any reasonable amount of time; a light year is a helluva long way away. But still…
Whoa.
Time to aim Hubble or some other space telescope at Alpha Centauri, and start doing some real looking.
I am just about bouncing in my seat here!
(It’s just a model. It’s just a model. It’s just a model…)
posted in News, Science | 5 Comments
