Planet Discoveries and Life out there...
- MeleeJayne
- May 15, 2020
- 5 min read
Let me introduce you to Kepler-452 and Kepler 22b. No, they're not space satellites. They're planet. Actual, existing planets found by NASA, (although one, we can't really guarantee).
Description & Image credit:
Artists Concept of Kepler-452.
(NASA Ames/JPL-Caltech/T. Pyle).
Source:
Description & Image credit:
Kepler-22b
Source:
Okay, well....
Kepler-452 (Image 1) hasn't been proven as certainly existing due to how far away it is, however, NASA still consider it as a potential candidate for a Habitual Planet and has dedicated a lot of time and resources to finding out more information about.
Unlike Kepler-22b (Image 2), which NASA believes may have already been inhabited.
The Facts
Kepler-452 is around 1,402 lightyears away (aka 26 billion years away) from planet Earth, in comparison Kepler 22b which is around 600 lightyears away (300 thousand years away).
For me, now I see why it may be so difficult to prove and identify whether Kelper-452 really exists as a planet or if it's simply something else.
Both Kepler's are surprisingly similar, in habitual conditions, to planet earth. So close so, Kepler-452's nickname is Earth 2.0 or Earth's cousin, and it's not even a perfect duplication of the climate here on Earth. Meaning that, the number we mentioned in my previous article has now increased greatly because Life might not even need "Exact Earth Conditions" to be able to survive.
The Criteria
For planets to be considered habitual, and harvest the potential for life (like Earth): They have to match a criterion. That criteria being;
Rotate around the Sun (or energy source)
Be the correct distance from that energy source (To establish the correct temperature or like Earth for example, not too close not too far (in the Goldilocks zone).
Be roughly, the size of Earth (As smaller planets may spin too fast for life to evolve and larger planets may house bad conditions such as; storms and Volcano’s)
Let’s take a closer look at what we know about Kepler-452 and Kepler-22b, in comparison to Earth as well as, how closely both Kepler planets fit on this criteria.
The Assessment
It is common knowledge, it takes Earth 365 days to complete its orbit around the sun, creating what we know as 1 year.
It takes Kepler-452, 385 days to rotate around its energy source. This is slightly longer than Earth, as it’s bigger therefore, it has a slower rotation time. A year on Kepler-452 would be longer than a year on planet Earth.
It takes Kepler-22b, 290 days to rotate around its energy source. Kepler-22b is twice the size of Earth and rotates15% closer to its source. By rotating closer than the Earth to the Sun, results in a quicker orbiting time meaning a year on Kepler-22b would be quicker than on planet Earth.
We can establish that we have two good sized planets that both have an energy source. We can tick boxes number 1 and 3 on the Habitual Planet Criteria. Now let's look at whether both planets are within the Goldilocks zone of their source.
Kepler-452’s source is 10% larger than Earth's Sun, meaning an increase in temperature in comparison to planet Earth. However, Kepler 452 is 5% further away from its source, than Earth meaning, the temperature is balanced and near similar to that of here on Earth.
Kepler-22b's source is slightly smaller than the Earth's sun and 22% dimmer. Although, Kepler-22b is 15% closer to it's source than Earth, giving Kepler-22b a surface temperature of around 22 degree's.
Tick box 2).
Fun but Scary Fact...
NASA only categorised 4,700 objects before they found Kepler-452, which successfully matched all three of the criteria. Imagine one matching planet out of every 4,700 of let's say... 3 quadrillion? (Confused? See this article. I highly recommend)
Monkey's and typewriters in my opinion. If it can happen once, it can happen twice. And a whole bunch more times by the looks and the size of the numbers we have to process. There has got to be life out there.
Were we late to the party?
Kepler-22b had NASA wondering if it had already been habituated, as it had water and potential continents. And NASA could actually prove, all of this exists and is out there.
Kepler-452 will unfortunately probably, remain an unknown. This is due to astronomers being unable to measure everything they need to come to solid conclusions. We don't know if it is truly habitual because it's source (it's sun/star) is 1.5 billion times older than our Sun and 20% brighter meaning its energy may be dying or ready to explode. And due to its distance from Earth, we won't be making any visits anytime soon, so Kepler-452 will remain a mystery.
Who’s to say, those alien beings that may have lived on Kepler-22b aren’t already space travelling with a plethora of different home planets and knowledge and access to things us Earth humans can’t even comprehend yet?
Previously, would we have ever considered the idea of being able to show our face to someone on the other-side of the planet? The internet has only existed since 1983 and look how far we've come.
If developements surrounding technology can change that quickly, what about those who had learned of it before us? How far has it taken them now?
As I mentioned in my other post, what if the signals that are being put out for us to communicate with are simply too complex for the technology we have today? What if other life is more complex and established that us here on Earth?
Maybe there’s a tropical paradise out there somewhere, with unbelievable things happening. Animals we’d never believe, perhaps dinosaurs still roaming (again, not impossible but admittedly, incredibly slim. That would be like monkey’s typing two different Shakespeare texts. Or, evolution making the same ‘decisions’ twice).
But doesn’t that open just so many more exciting possibilities? It’s cool if life has recreated humans elsewhere, but how amazing would it be seeing the other alternatives of what could have been?
What if, certain species didn’t die out?
What if, certain decisions weren't made?
What if, certain peditators came before their pray, how would that effect things?
What if, animals never made it onto land?
What if, life started on land?
But doesn’t that open just so many more exciting possibilities? It’s cool if life has recreated humans elsewhere, but how amazing would it be seeing the other alternatives of what could have been?
What if, certain species didn’t die out?
What if, certain decisions weren't made?
What if, certain peditators came before their pray, how would that effect things?
What if, animals never made it onto land?
What if, life started on land?
We sit on this spinning planet and believe we're the only ones here in the universe. We treat the planet like we have superior knowledge and power.
What if one day, we saw something much bigger than our mind could comprehend?
Would we dismiss it due to fear and ego? Or would we embrace it with desire to learn and curiosity? Maybe we won't have any alien encounters in our life time, and life as we known it.
I like to believe nothing can be created nor destroyed, only transformed as Einstein said. Maybe during our transformation after death, we'll return to the complex unknown space or realm we call home, or perhaps we'll finally discover it.
Peace and Love x
Note: I don’t intend to take credit for any of the findings in the article, if they weren’t referenced properly.
References: Information for Kepler-452:
Information for Kepler-22b:
Kepler 452 remains a Mystery:
Aliens: Science asks if there's anybody out there? (Book):
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