Going to An Exoplanet Exoplanets are being discovered everywhere. Have you ever wondered what it might be like to visit one? First of all, most of them are too big even if they are in the so-called Goldilocks Zone. In case you are wondering what size has to do with anything, think of gravity. We are used to the gravity generated by the earth. The earth is a planet with a diameter of about 7,926 miles at the equator. If we measure its diameter from pole to pole it is slightly less at 7,898 miles. If we were on a planet roughly three times the diameter composed of comparative material as the earth, the gravity would be far more and we would have a hard time moving around, because we would weigh much more. The reason most of the exoplanets are bigger than earth is the smaller ones might be harder to find. The next problem has to do with alien life. Some life on an alien planet might be much stronger than we are and much more dangerous. The strength factor would have to do with the increased gravity I talked about. It could turn our astronauts landing on an exoplanet might be considered easy marks by the wildlife there, if it existed. Animals which are much smaller than the ones we are used to dealing with on the earth could suddenly become a threat to us. Think of a squirrel sized animal with the strength of a baboon or a baboon sized animal with the strength of a gorilla. Suddenly there might be many more predators after us than there are on earth. Another problem could come in the form of microscopic life, germs and such. We have enough problems on earth trying to cure diseases without finding a bunch of new diseases which might exist on an alien planet and this would work both way. I say this, because our bodies are filled with all sorts of germs just waiting to infect other bodies. We have become used to them, but to other life forms which were never exposed to them before, it could be the death knell. Not only could it be hazardous for us to mingle with life on an alien planet, it might be hazardous for any life that might be there. What if we did find an earth sized world which was approximately like our earth, would it mean life there would be the same? Not necessarily. There are so many variables to consider. One might be radiation. It could turn out the atmosphere of an exoplanet might not stop all the radiation from its star or its star is putting our far more radiation than ours does. The earth is protected by a magnetic envelope, this doesn’t mean this exoplanet would have the same type of shield. Without a permanent radiation shield, whether natural or artificial, life on this exoplanet would become impossible for all, but the smallest settlements unless we had a huge breakthrough in technology. Take the star Kepler-186, it has an exoplanet named Kepler-186f orbiting it. This planet is approximately the same size as earth, but the star is much weaker than our sun and the planet is only about 1/3rd the distance from it as earth is from the sun. We know temperatures might be suitable, but what do we know about radiation and such? Not much. We can’t even be sure about the atmosphere of the planet. The atmosphere could cause the planet to be much hotter or colder than we think. A good example of this is Venus which is far hotter than it would be if it had an earth like atmosphere. Scientists believe there are certain things which never change, at least not enough for us to notice in our ordinary lives. When we drive our cars, time is passing more slowly, but the change is so minute we don’t notice. Could time flow be different on an exoplanet than earth? Some believe time might flow different on an exoplanet if it was orbiting much slower or much faster than the earth orbits around the sun. Most astronomers don’t believe a planet could orbit around its star fast enough for us to notice the difference in time. Going slower wouldn’t make much of a difference. We are still like babies experiencing their world for the first time. There is probably so much we don’t know about the universe, it outweighs what we have already learned by a high factor. We are likely more prepared to settle on the moon or Mars than we would be on any other planets, especially those in a different solar system, not to mention exoplanets in a different galaxy if they exist. So far, when scientists tell us they have found an earth like exoplanet, it doesn’t mean we should pack our bags even if we could reach it. Just knowing its size and distance from its sun is certainly not enough information for a decision on colonization. When I talked about a planet’s atmosphere before I didn’t mention the fact besides radiation getting through, the atmosphere could be harmful to humans. In some cases, we might be better off going to a planet without an atmosphere, but I can’t think of a reason right now. When we talk about gravity on alien worlds we have to consider how dense a body is to figure out it gravitational pull. An exoplanet could be much smaller than earth and yet have much more powerful gravity. I remember an episode of the old television program Buck Rogers, when Buck was told not to mess with some guy because he came from a heavy gravity world and was extremely strong. These types of questions will have to be seriously addressed within the next 50 to 100 years, before an exoplanet can be selected to settle on even if we have the technology to get there. |
