Andy’s Astronomy: Study Continues on Earth 2.0

A planet discovered 11 years ago, that is very similar to Earth, continues being studied.

It was in July 2015 the Kepler Space Telescope discovered a planet 1,800 light-years from Earth that has been loosely called Earth 2.0 or Earth’s Cousin, though the actual name is Kepler-452b.

The discovery of Kepler 452b caused shockwaves in the astronomy and scientific communities with some of the experts saying the planet did not exist. Since then more evidence has substantiated the claim.

A super-Earth exoplanet found in the Cygnus constellation, Kepler 452b is orbiting its parent star, Kepler 452, in what has been defined as the “habitable zone” for life as we know it.

Kepler 452b has a mass about three times that of Earth with a radius of 1.6 times that of Earth. The planet orbits its star in about 385 days, just days longer than Earth’s orbit.

Today’s technology cannot determine if life exists on Kepler 452b and the speed of current spacecraft would require a travel time of 30 million years to reach the planet.

It will be up to future generations to ascertain if Kepler 45b is another Earth.

As noted last week, July has been an interesting time for space exploration.

Our esteemed backyard astronomer, Ms. Lynn, reminds that it was in July 1995, the Comet Hale-Bopp was discovered.

Hale-Bopp was discovered almost simultaneously by two people in separate places.

Alan Hale was tracking comets from his home in Cloudcroft, New Mexico, and discovered the comet. Meanwhile, Thomas Bopp was using a homemade Dobsonian telescope at Vekol Ranch near Stanfield, Arizona, and spotted the same comet. Both men reported their findings which were subsequently confirmed and the comet carries both their names.

Hale-Bopp is a long-period comet and was visible to the unaided eye for 18 months in 1997. It should return to the inner Solar System about the year 4385.

Early meteors from the Perseids Meteor Shower have already been reported flashing across the night sky. The frequency of meteors will increase slightly until peak activity forecast for the overnight hours of Aug. 12-13. During peak activity, the Perseids Meteor Shower could produce 30-50 meteors per hour. The best viewing time will be prior to dawn Aug. 13

The Perseids Meteor Shower is known to produce meteors with long, bright trails mixed with some fireballs.

If skies are clear this could be a great meteor shower to watch. Those with an action camera should consider setting up the camera pointing at the sky to capture peak activity.

Meteors can flash across the sky anytime, day or night, and they are spotted quite often. Particularly bright meteors are often referred to as fireballs.

On July 12, a fireball was reported by 10 people across Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, and Mississippi. The fireball was first reported at 8:45 pm Central Time by a skywatcher in Pace, FL. It was seen as far north and east as Atlanta, GA, as far south as New Orleans, and as far west as Holden, LA. The fireball appeared to travel from the west-southwest to the east-northeast.

None of the skywatchers reported hearing noise associated with the fireball but one reported seeing it fragment into pieces. A video of the fireball was captured by a camera mounted in a car.

Anyone seeing a fireball is urged to report the sighting to https://amsmeteors.org

Going outside and looking at the night sky can be fun and educational for the entire family.

There are a number of free apps available to help identify stars and constellations, and some of the apps will show satellites.

Happy skywatching!