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Wednesday, October 17, 2012

Big (Science) News

Screw the debates, here's the really big news:  Astronomers have discovered an Earth-sized planet orbiting Alpha Centauri B!

Details HERE and HERE.

I can say with complete honesty that this is something I've been waiting to hear for a number of years.  Why?  The Alpha Centauri trinary system is only a hair over 4 light years...practically down the block in terms of galactic distance.  While this particular planet is far too close to Alpha Centauri B to support life as we know it, call it a harbinger of things to come:  if there is one rocky planet in the system, there could very well be others.

It could very well be that, within my lifetime, a planet capable of supporting life as we may know it could very well be discovered in a nearby solar system.  How cool would that be?

Fire up the Jupiter 2.


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