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A new super-Earth has been discovered! 30% of it is water, only 100 light-years away, or life exists

author:Minxian release

Source: Here's the answer

Our Earth is a veritable "Mercury" covered with a blue ocean, also known as the "Blue Star".

However, water only accounts for 1% of the total mass of the earth, so our water is still not much.

A new super-Earth has been discovered! 30% of it is water, only 100 light-years away, or life exists

The most seawater on Earth

In the universe, astronomers have discovered another super-Earth, which is 30% water, which is "water" more than The Earth!

What's even more exciting is that the planet is only 100 light-years away, and there is still a possibility of life.

So, what planet is so magical that it can be a target for our future migration?

A new super-Earth has been discovered! 30% of it is water, only 100 light-years away, or life exists

The whole picture of the earth

"Earth" 100 light-years away

This planet, which is more "water" than the Earth, is called TOI-1452 b, which is a new object announced by the internationally renowned journal "Astrophysics Journal", or a super-Earth.

The so-called super-Earth is not a planet inhabited by super Saiyans, but an astronomical term for some terrestrial planets, which are larger than Earth, and often much larger.

This TOI-1452 b is about 4.8 times the mass of Earth, more than 70% larger, and more importantly, it also has a huge amount of water!

Having water means it may have life.

A new super-Earth has been discovered! 30% of it is water, only 100 light-years away, or life exists

Scientists envision TOI-1452b

Astronomers at the University of Montreal have calculated TOI-1452 b and found that its density is about 5.6 g/cm3, compared to 5.5 g on Earth, not much different.

A planet heavier and larger than Earth, but more dense than Earth, indicates that most of the material that makes it up is light, such as water.

Professor Charles Cadieux, who was responsible for observing it, made in-depth calculations and found that TOI-1452 b is likely to be 30% water.

You know, our planet is only 1% made up of water and 30% is water, what would that be? A proper reservoir of the universe.

A new super-Earth has been discovered! 30% of it is water, only 100 light-years away, or life exists

ToI-1452 b world

Taking The Earth as a reference, there are several conditions that require the birth of life: rocky planets, liquid water, atmosphere, habitable zone, TOI-1452 b basically meets the requirements.

The star it orbits is a red dwarf that is in the habitable zone of that red dwarf, and it is massive enough to provide gravitational pull to bind the gas to form an atmosphere.

As for whether it has oxygen in its atmosphere, this is not a key condition.

Coupled with the sheer volume of water it has, Professor Cadeer has reason to believe that there could be life on this super-Earth.

Even if there is no life, this is a place where life can survive, and it is not impossible to be a candidate for future migration of human beings.

However, the distance between TOI-1452 b and Earth is 100 light-years.

A new super-Earth has been discovered! 30% of it is water, only 100 light-years away, or life exists

TOI-1452 b Comparison with Earth

Light years away

100 light years is a true astronomical number for human beings today, and basically no spacecraft can achieve this distance.

However, in the super-Earths currently discovered, TOI-1452 b is not very far away. Since the first discovery of super-Earths in 1992, thousands of super-Earths have been discovered, including more than 1,000 super-Earths in the Kepler project alone.

The distance between these super-Earths and us has to be expressed in light years. As far as Kepler 22-b is 638 light-years away, the closer, Gliese 876, is 15 light-years away from Earth.

So the 100 light-years of TOI-1452 b is actually not too far away, and it is a medium-range super-Earth.

A new super-Earth has been discovered! 30% of it is water, only 100 light-years away, or life exists

Kepler-22 b versus Earth

Astronomers are based on the Earth as a reference standard, and the Earth has given birth to life over about 3.8 billion years.

Most of these super-Earths orbit red dwarfs, stars that are not as large, massive, and bright as the Sun, but they have a characteristic that they are particularly alive.

Stars of the mass of the Sun have a lifespan of only about 10 billion years, but red dwarfs can live 20 billion years or more.

Some red dwarfs are the same age as the entire universe, which means that the super-Earths around them are older than Earth.

A new super-Earth has been discovered! 30% of it is water, only 100 light-years away, or life exists

Red dwarfs in the universe

For example, the super-Earth Kepler-10c discovered by humans is located in a star system that was born 1 billion years after the Big Bang, which is about 9 billion years older than the solar system.

At first, astronomers predicted that Kepler-10c would have a mass of 17 times that of Earth, but after careful calculations by the Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics at Harvard University, it was 2.5 times the diameter of The Earth and 7.4 times the mass of the Earth.

Professor Xavier Dumusk, the head of the project, joked that the planet was a Godzilla for Earth.

A new super-Earth has been discovered! 30% of it is water, only 100 light-years away, or life exists

Kepler-10 c is more than 9 billion years older than Earth

Although Kepler-10c is much older than Earth, its condition does not seem to be suitable for the birth of life.

It is very close to its parent star, which causes its surface temperature to be above 200 °C and its orbital period to be 45 days.

Strictly speaking, Kepler-10c is not in the habitable zone of the galaxy.

And Kepler 10c is 560 light-years from Earth, making it difficult to observe because the light of the parent star obscures a large part of it.

So many astronomers are skeptical about the existence of Kepler-10c, and they think that maybe it's a oolong.

A new super-Earth has been discovered! 30% of it is water, only 100 light-years away, or life exists

The surface of the Super-Earth

The migration of super-Earths is possible

Can these super-earths be the targets of future human migration? In particular, planets with very large water content such as TOI-1452 b can also solve human water problems by the way.

However, do not be confused by the name of the super-earth, this is just their name, does not mean that the super-earth must exist life, must be suitable for life.

The mass and volume of the super-Earth are generally much larger than the Earth, and according to the calculation of gravity, their surface gravitational acceleration is often several times that of the Earth.

If humans land on such a planet, they will be subjected to a huge gravitational force, doubling their gravity, and it is very likely that their knees will not be able to bear to kneel directly.

A new super-Earth has been discovered! 30% of it is water, only 100 light-years away, or life exists

Gravity on the Earth's surface

Don't underestimate gravity, the whale stranded even if the whale is rescued, it may die, because its own gravity has damaged the organ.

Humans ascend to Super-Earth like whales leaving the ocean.

In addition to the super-Earth's huge gravitational acceleration, its distance from the Earth is also insurmountable.

It takes a lot of effort for human aircraft to fly over the solar system, and it has not completely left yet.

To go to super-Earth, humans must overcome the barriers of space and time.

A new super-Earth has been discovered! 30% of it is water, only 100 light-years away, or life exists

Humans leaving Earth is the equivalent of a whale stranded

In space, humans cannot complete a leap of 1 light-year, and even if humans decide to go beyond the light-year, human beings face another problem - lifespan.

In the case of Voyager 1, for example, it will become the first artificial vehicle for humans to fly out of the solar system, and it will take about 30,000 years.

A person's life expectancy is difficult to break through 100 years, 30,000 years, and it takes at least 1,000 generations to wait.

Human beings can still reproduce on the earth, so in the space voyage, can they fly and give birth at the same time? This is the shackle that time gives to mankind, and together with space, it forms an obstacle that human beings cannot cross.

A new super-Earth has been discovered! 30% of it is water, only 100 light-years away, or life exists

Voyager 1 probe

Another point is how to solve the energy problem. Spacecraft navigation needs to provide energy continuously, and mankind's most advanced nuclear energy batteries can only be used for more than 80 years, and then voyages must rely on inertia.

Most of the functions on Voyager 1 have been turned off, in order to use the remaining energy on the blade.

Even so, its battery will still run out in 2025.

The spacecraft on which humans ride must also maintain an internal environment, which consumes more energy, unless it carries a lot of nuclear batteries and relays energy.

But this would have to carry thousands of nuclear batteries, and the spacecraft would have a limited capacity to carry so many nuclear batteries.

As a result, the probability of humans moving to a super-Earth is almost zero.

A new super-Earth has been discovered! 30% of it is water, only 100 light-years away, or life exists

Voyager 1 is still about 30,000 years away from the solar system

The dangers of a super-Earth

Not only will humanity not be able to travel to Super-Earth, but it may also face the dangers it creates.

First of all, if there is really life above, then according to the age of the super-Earth, it is likely to have developed an alien civilization, much higher than the Earth.

According to Hawking's warning, don't provoke aliens at will, they are likely to pinch the earth's human beings like an ant.

Second, there are some super-Earths orbiting whose main stars are not red dwarfs, but red giants or super red giants, which are a type of star that has entered old age and is extremely unstable and about to die.

A new super-Earth has been discovered! 30% of it is water, only 100 light-years away, or life exists

Alien civilizations may be more advanced than human civilizations

They will either collapse or produce supernova explosions, producing intense gamma-ray bursts.

These gamma rays will come to Earth and pose a certain threat to the Earth.

Although the Earth's magnetic field can protect the Earth from a large number of cosmic rays, in the face of such a strong gamma ray, I am afraid that the magnetic field cannot guarantee the earth's full retreat.

A new super-Earth has been discovered! 30% of it is water, only 100 light-years away, or life exists

The moment gamma rays are generated

Therefore, the environment in which the super-Earth is located does not necessarily have the hope of life, but on the contrary, it may be facing death.