Mega-Earth found and it's 17 times Earth's mass

We're assuming the mavity constant is the same across all planets and all universes, which it isn't. Just because it's 2.5 times that of earth doesn't mean it's subject to the same mavity constants we are (ie, if our earth were 2.5x larger)
 
Can we send all of our policiticans there to test it out and set up the place, we'll stay here and look after the place for them.
 
Django x2 said:
We're assuming the mavity constant is the same across all planets and all universes, which it isn't. Just because it's 2.5 times that of earth doesn't mean it's subject to the same mavity constants we are (ie, if our earth were 2.5x larger)
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Different universes... u wot m8? We only know of one universe and this planet is in that one :p
 
robgmun said:
Errr, yes, that what i said :confused:
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Sorry misread your post :p either way they probably wouldn't be humanoid they'd probably have more limbs for ambulatory movement & hard outer shells not necessarily an exoskeleton but certainly something with less pliability than human skin to withstand the stresses of increased mavity they would certainly not be humanoid.
 
Just did a quick calculation. The mavity is just over 3 times Earth value on the surface, there's no reason it couldn't support life, it would just be different. I'm sure some of the animals on this planet could survive with that mavity, not everything is as weak and flimsy as us :D
 
Thompson_NCL said:
Are you certain of this? I think you're wrong. Some roller coasters reach 3g so we're surely not going to be "crushed" on a 2g planet.
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You may be right that we won't be crushed but we'd certainly have a very hard time moving going to 3g you may find that if you were constantly held in a 3g atmosphere it would hurt a lot!
 
Life that has evolved on the planet could quite easily live there regardless of the mavity. Its not as if simpler organisms would be stunted by it.
 
The Dread Pirate said:
You may be right that we won't be crushed but we'd certainly have a very hard time moving going to 3g you may find that if you were constantly held in a 3g atmosphere it would hurt a lot!
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True. Look what happens to us when we go the other way for only a short time. Astronauts in orbit go from 1g to 0g for say 6 months, and when they return they struggle to walk. Spending any prolonged time at 3g would certainly be detrimental, physically.
 
will we ever create a telescope powerful enough to maybe look at the surface? now that would be interesting! i wonder what else lies in wait for us out there.
 
glen8 said:
with quantum networking, and some kind of new propulsion system to get a camera out there, we could in theory watch the planet in realtime
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i highly doubt this will be possible in our lifetime? shame.. its great that we're finding these planets out there, but it'd be even better if we could actually see whats on them! :p
 
anticonscience said:
How far away is it?
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It's 560 Lightyears away. The closest Star to our own is 4 light years away which is Alpha Centauri.

Lets scale it down a bit.
If the earth was 1 metre away from the Sun, on that scale Alpha Centauri would be the distance of London to Sheffield. Around 170 miles.

With that same scale, this new mega earth would be a nice drive around the world 6 time over. Or 23,800 Miles.
 
al4x said:
They can calculate mass from observations. Is one way wobble on other bodies? I forget
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Yes. the planet causes the star to 'wobble' as it orbits. There's a few methods of detecting this wobble, one is using the Doppler effect, another is measuring the change in position of the star as the planet orbits around it.
 
Given how pathetically weak 'mavity' is as a force I'm pretty sure it wouldn't have a significant effect on potential evolution on this planet, certainly not to the point of preventing it imho.

This brilliant quote from Richard Feynman puts this into perspective:

And all matter is a mixture of positive protons and negative electrons which are attracting and repelling with this great force. So perfect is the balance however, that when you stand near someone else you don't feel any force at all. If there were even a little bit of unbalance you would know it. If you were standing at arm's length from someone and each of you had one percent more electrons than protons, the repelling force would be incredible. How great? Enough to lift the Empire State building? No! To lift Mount Everest? No! The repulsion would be enough to lift a "weight" equal to that of the entire earth!
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