INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
Main image: Data from the Kepler space telescope has been used to find thousands of exoplanets
NASA has even launched its Exoplanet Travel Bureau, which explores three of the most Earth-like: Kepler-16b, Kepler-186f, and
that can image planets situated in the 'habitable zones' of stars in the Alpha Centauri system, the star system closest to us
A habitable zone around a star is the range of orbits far enough away for a planet to support liquid water, which scientists think is a
confirm the existence of another Blue Planet similar to our own, which may contain life.What is Project BlueProject Blue is about taking the
search for Earth 2.0 from observational astronomy into visual astronomy
While most exoplanets have been discovered using the 'transit' method (a telescope observing a star's light dim slightly as a planet travels
across its disk), the future of exoplanet exploration is going to be all about direct observation and photography.Project Blue wants to take
which aims to blast off in the 2021, is the brainchild of the BoldlyGo Institute, Mission Centaur, extraterrestrial life-hunters the SETI
Institute, and the University of Massachusetts Lowell.Which star system will Project Blue look atAlpha Centauri, the nearest star system to
Private Space Symposium in June
A mere 4.37 light years from us, it consists of three stars: two Sun-sized stars called Alpha Centauri A (also called Rigil Kent) and Alpha
Centauri B, and the much smaller Proxima Centauri red dwarf star
In fact, Proxima Centauri is the nearest to us at just 4.24 light years, but despite an Earth-sized exoplanet called Proxima Centauri b
Centauri b is being ignored
"It's as large as it needs to be," says Morse
spatially resolve the habitable zones."From low-Earth orbit, this small space telescope will point at Alpha Centauri A and Alpha Centauri B,
the two largest stars in the Alpha Centauri system, which are both the same size (give or take) as our Sun
photographyIf direct imaging of exoplanets is to be the future of astronomy, some foundational technologies need to be tested first, and
that's exactly what Project Blue is intended to do
artist's impression of HD 219134 b, the closest rocky exoplanet to the Earth, at 21.25 light-years away
only from the southern hemisphere
In fact, Alpha Centauri and its visually close neighbor, Beta Centauri (which is a whopping 390 light-years from us), point to the Southern
Cross.Alpha Centauri from the Very Large Telescope (VLT) at the Paranal Observatory in Chile
Beletsky (LCO)/ESO)However, those living below 25 degrees north of the Earth's equator (such as in Florida, North Africa, the UAE, Northern
India and Southern China), do sometimes see Alpha Centauri peek above the southern horizon
That explains why this star was worshipped by the ancient Egyptians, who erected temples at Corinth and Delphi that align to the rising of
Alpha Centauri.How long would it take to travel to Alpha CentauriIt may the closest star system to us, but using current rocket technology
it would take about 30,000 years to cross the 40 trillion kilometres (or 4.37 light years, or 1.34 parsecs), between us and Alpha
Centauri.Our Sun is in the constellation of Cassiopeia as viewed from Alpha Centauri
Speculative projects include Breakthrough Starshot which would send 1,000 ultra-lightweight nanocraft traveling at a fifth of light speed,
Centauri would be overtaken by a mission launched much later but using newer, faster technology.For the foreseeable future, however,
interstellar travel is a slow process, and so the search for Earth 2.0 is likely to remain a purely photographic hunt for many decades to
come.TheIndianSubcontinent's Innovation series is brought to you in association with HonorQmUvwdXeqF9xjRJjLPXYvT.jpg#
