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PhosphorusDecree
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23 Feb 2017, 9:05 am

Looking interesting: https://www.nasa.gov/press-release/nasa ... ets-around

All seven planets are in very close orbits around a dwarf star. They're small and dense, so at least some of them are probably rocky. Three of them are in the sweet spot for having liquid water on the surface.

It's interesting that it's a red dwarf star. On the plus side, those things have an estimated lifespan of at least 60 billion years before they burn out, and they're pretty stable in temperature the whole time. On the minus side, they give off huge radioactive solar flares, and the planets are likely to be tidally locked with one side permanently facing the star.

I REALLY like the idea of three habitable planets, in orbits so close to each other that (at the nearest points) maybe even Apollo-level space technology could get you between them. Even if there's no life there in reality, it's a superb SF setting.


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naturalplastic
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23 Feb 2017, 10:10 pm

Yes its mind blowing.

Seven "earths" all orbiting closer to their sun than the planet Mercury is to our sun. Very crowded solar system compared to ours.

Have heard that scientist think that rocky planets tend to top off in size at around the size of the earth.

Venus and earth are near twins in size, and Mars would have been earth sized as well if not for the fact that "Jupiter ate its lunch" back when the Solar System formed according to a recent doc on Smithsonian.