Mission Could Seek Out Spock's Home Planet

[4th and Long]

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Mission Could Seek Out Spock's Home Planet


Above left: Science fact - The SIM PlanetQuest mission will be able to detect habitable
planets around other stars. Above right: Science fiction - the Enterprise orbiting planet Vulcan.
(Star Trek images courtesy STARTREK.COM Copyright 2007 CBS Studios Inc.)

Science fiction may soon become science fact.

Astronomers at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory have recently concluded that the upcoming planet-finding mission, SIM PlanetQuest, would be able to detect an Earth-like planet around the star 40 Eridani, a planet familiar to "Star Trek" fans as "Vulcan." 40 Eridani, a triple-star system 16 light-years from Earth, includes a red-orange K dwarf star slightly smaller and cooler than our sun. Vulcan is thought to orbit that dwarf star, called 40 Eridani A.

When pondering the idea that SIM might be able to detect Vulcan, astronomer Dr. Angelle Tanner at Caltech had two questions: Can a planet form around 40 Eridani A? Can SIM detect such a planet?

She consulted a planetary theorist, Dr. Sean Raymond of the University of Colorado, Boulder. "Since the three members of the triple star system are so far away from each other [hundreds of astronomical units - the Earth-Sun distance], I see no reason why an Earth-mass planet would not be able to form around the primary star, 40 Eridani A," he said.

If Vulcan life were to exist on the planet, the orbit of the planet would have to lie in a sweet spot around the star where liquid water could be present on its surface. Water is an essential ingredient for any organism to live long and prosper. For 40 Eridani A, this spot, or "habitable zone," is 0.6 astronomical units from the star. That means Vulcans would get to celebrate a birthday about every six months.




The SIM PlanetQuest instrument will be so accurate, it could measure the thickness of a nickel at a distance from Earth to the moon. Using a set of mathematical models based on Newton's Laws, Tanner was able to conclude that SIM would be able to definitively determine whether there is an Earth-mass planet orbiting in the habitable zone around 40 Eridani A, and could also determine its orbit.

This is quite an exciting prospect, since NASA's Terrestrial Planet Finder mission, planned for launch after SIM, would not only be able to take a rudimentary "picture" of the planet, but also could search for signatures of life such as methane and ozone.


Artist's concept comparing our sun's habitable zone
with that of 40 Eridani.

When asked what life would be like on Vulcan, Tanner speculated that the inhabitants might be pale. "A K dwarf star emits its light at wavelengths which are a bit redder compared to those from the sun, so I wonder whether it's harder to get a tan there," she said.

The results of Tanner's simulations will be submitted for publication in the Publications of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific.

For more information about NASA's search for new worlds, visit the PlanetQuest Web site at http://planetquest.jpl.nasa.gov.

[penguinz]

Why does everyone assume that if there is life on another planet it has to have the same properties of life here such as needing liquid water.

[Simplex3]

Originally Posted by penguinz

Why does everyone assume that if there is life on another planet it has to have the same properties of life here such as needing liquid water.

...because everything still revolves around us and we know how everything works.


Duh.

[beavis]

Originally Posted by penguinz

Why does everyone assume that if there is life on another planet it has to have the same properties of life here such as needing liquid water.

I think the assumptions is "life as we know it" would need water to survive.

But if you watched Signs, you know that aliens are allergic to water.

[DaneMcCloud]

Originally Posted by beavis

But if you watched Signs, you know that aliens are allergic to water.

And the humans are allergic to logic.