Kepler confirms
first exoplanet in
habitable region -
the exopolitical
impact
December 6, 2011.
Michael E. Salla,
Ph.D.
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This diagram
compares our
own solar
system to
Kepler-22, a
star system
containing
the first
"habitable
zone" planet
discovered
by NASA's
Kepler
mission.
Image
credit:
NASA/Ames/JPL-Caltech |
It's official - an
earth-like planet in
the habitable region
of a distant solar
system has just been
confirmed to exist.
The planet,
Kepler-22b, sits in
the so-called
Goldilocks region of
a solar system where
it is neither too
hot nor too cold for
hosting life as we
know it. Scientists
associated with
NASA's Kepler Space
Telescope Project
announced the
discovery at a
Press Conference
at the Ames Research
Center early on
Monday. The
scientific results
will be published in
the next edition of
The Astrophysics
Journal. The
announcement takes
the scientific
community one step
closer to announcing
that the conditions
for life can be
found on numerous
exoplanets scattered
throughout the
galaxy. More
importantly, the
announcement takes
our world one step
closer to realizing
that
extraterrestrial
life is not only
scientifically
feasible, but likely
exists throughout
our vast galaxy with
its more than 300
billion stars. The
confirmation of the
first habitable
exoplanet opens the
door to a
comprehension
discussion of the
political and social
consequences of the
discovery of
extraterrestrial
life. Such
discussion has been
mainly limited to
the field of
exopolitics where
researchers have
examined claims that
extraterrestrials
not only exist, but
have been secretly
monitoring our
world; and have even
been visiting us
since the dawn of
the atomic age.
Even though the
Kepler mission
released news of the
discovery of earth
like planets in the
habitable zone
earlier in February
2011, these were
only "candidate
planets". Further
observations were
needed to confirm if
what was seen was
actually a planet or
not. Confirmation
did eventually
arrive. Here is how
William Borucki, a
principal
investigator at NASA
Ames Research and
team leader for the
discovery of
Kepler-22b,
described
the stunning
confirmation:
Fortune smiled upon
us with the
detection of this
planet … The first
transit was captured
just three days
after we declared
the spacecraft
operationally ready.
We witnessed the
defining third
transit over the
2010 holiday
season…. Of the 54
"habitable" zone
planet candidates
seen so far,
Kepler-22b is the
first to be
confirmed.
Put simply,
Kepler-22b was
included as a
candidate exoplanet
soon after the
launch of the Kepler
Mission in March
2009. Continued
observations have
confirmed its
existence, and
opened the door to
further
announcements of
exoplanets to be
found in the
Goldilocks region of
distant solar
systems.
NASA's
Press Release
gave details about
the confirmed
exoplanet's location
and orbit:
Kepler-22b is
located 600
light-years away.
While the planet is
larger than Earth,
its orbit of 290
days around a
sun-like star
resembles that of
our world. The
planet's host star
belongs to the same
class as our sun,
called G-type,
although it is
slightly smaller and
cooler.
The announcement was
made at the Kepler
Mission's inaugural
science conference
hosted at Ames from
December 5-9. Here's
how NASA described
the present tally of
exoplanets:
The Kepler team is …
announcing 1,094 new
planet candidate
discoveries. Since
the last catalog was
released in
February, the number
of planet candidates
identified by Kepler
has increased by 89
percent and now
totals 2,326. Of
these, 207 are
approximately
Earth-size, 680 are
super Earth-size,
1,181 are
Neptune-size, 203
are Jupiter-size and
55 are larger than
Jupiter.
According to Alan
Boss, a Carnegie
Institute researcher
that is part of the
Kepler Mission:
This discovery
supports the growing
belief that we live
in a universe
crowded with life
... Kepler is on the
verge of determining
the actual abundance
of habitable,
Earth-like planets
in our galaxy'.
The confirmation of
Kepler-22b as the
first habitable
exoplanet opens the
door to the study of
the social and
political
consequences of
extraterrestrial
life. Fortunately,
some scientific
institutions such as
the
Royal Society
have endorsed such
an exopolitical
discussion. One
likely impact of
Kepler-22b is that
more scientific
institutions will
follow the lead of
the Royal Society.
Eventually, the
scientific community
will need to examine
the vast evidence
accumulated over the
last six decades,
that
extraterrestrial
life is not only
real and found
throughout the
galaxy, but they
have been watching,
and even visiting
us, for a very long
time.
