20ly away. I guess that does qualify as “nearby,” astronomically.
In a certain way, it does feel close. We can’t figure out how to go faster than light, but we could theoretically get to a significant fraction of c and 20 years isn’t such a long time to plan for in terms of getting a probe there to start relaying messages that take 20 years to get back.
I mean, it’s the span of a career, but people could conceivably work on the launch and live to see it return data.
Breakthrough Starshot project is working towards accelerating a probe close to 20% of C. That’s a significant fraction of C in these terms.
Even if we could get to .25 C, that would be 80 years for the probe to get there, and then 20 more for the data to come back.
But yes, that is still VERY close.
That orbit is better described as passing through the habitable zone. How this would affect potential life, I have no clue, but it certainly isn’t a stable orbit in the habitable zone like earth or mars
Another article said it had 6.6 times earth’s mass, and now I’m really curious about the diameter and atmospheric composition. It sounds like it’d be a big Venus that alternates between freezing and boiling.
It sounds like an extremely interesting planet for sure, I hope they point Webb at it to get an atmospheric spectral analysis soon!
