1 00:00:01,920 --> 00:00:06,440 Speaker 1: Welcome to brain Stuff production of I Heart Radio. Hey 2 00:00:06,480 --> 00:00:09,400 Speaker 1: brain Stuff Lauren Vogel bomb here with a classic episode 3 00:00:09,400 --> 00:00:12,920 Speaker 1: from our archives. Part of what makes the search for 4 00:00:13,000 --> 00:00:16,520 Speaker 1: extraterrestrial life so difficult is that we only know about 5 00:00:16,560 --> 00:00:19,920 Speaker 1: the kind of life that developed on Earth, and detecting 6 00:00:20,000 --> 00:00:24,000 Speaker 1: planets that are vaguely like Earth is really hard. But 7 00:00:24,280 --> 00:00:27,040 Speaker 1: today's episode has to do with just such a planet 8 00:00:27,200 --> 00:00:34,239 Speaker 1: confirmed to be earthlike. Hey brain Stuff, Lauren Vogel bomb Here, 9 00:00:34,720 --> 00:00:37,479 Speaker 1: a very special alien world has been discovered on our 10 00:00:37,479 --> 00:00:40,479 Speaker 1: galactic doorstep, and it may have the secret sauce that 11 00:00:40,520 --> 00:00:43,159 Speaker 1: allows life as we know it to exist on its surface. 12 00:00:43,880 --> 00:00:48,200 Speaker 1: Enter Ross B, an Earth sized exoplanet that likely orbits 13 00:00:48,240 --> 00:00:51,840 Speaker 1: its star in the habitable zone. What makes this exoplanet 14 00:00:51,840 --> 00:00:54,720 Speaker 1: discovery so exciting is that it's located only eleven light 15 00:00:54,800 --> 00:00:58,280 Speaker 1: years away. Plus it's red dwarf star appears to be inactive. 16 00:00:58,720 --> 00:01:00,880 Speaker 1: That means that this newly discuss word world may not 17 00:01:01,000 --> 00:01:04,240 Speaker 1: face the radioactive ravages that other EXE planets likely endure, 18 00:01:04,560 --> 00:01:09,520 Speaker 1: thereby boosting its habitable potential. Astronomers detected Ross one B 19 00:01:09,760 --> 00:01:14,240 Speaker 1: using the European Southern Observatories High accuracy radial velocity planet 20 00:01:14,280 --> 00:01:18,160 Speaker 1: searcher A. K. A. Harps at the Lascia Observatory in Chile. 21 00:01:18,800 --> 00:01:21,440 Speaker 1: They measured the slight wobbles of the star caused by 22 00:01:21,480 --> 00:01:24,320 Speaker 1: the orbiting exoplanet. In a study published in the journal 23 00:01:24,319 --> 00:01:27,880 Speaker 1: Astronomy and Astrophysics, the researchers calculated the exo planet's mass 24 00:01:27,920 --> 00:01:31,440 Speaker 1: and orbital period. A year on Ross one B is 25 00:01:31,520 --> 00:01:34,399 Speaker 1: slightly less than ten Earth days, so the distance at 26 00:01:34,400 --> 00:01:37,319 Speaker 1: which it whips around its star is very close. But 27 00:01:37,360 --> 00:01:39,480 Speaker 1: as the red dwarf is so tiny and cool, the 28 00:01:39,520 --> 00:01:42,200 Speaker 1: exoplanet receives a similar amount of solar heating as our 29 00:01:42,240 --> 00:01:44,959 Speaker 1: planet receives from the Sun. Red dwarfs are the most 30 00:01:45,000 --> 00:01:47,520 Speaker 1: common type of star in our galaxy, and many are 31 00:01:47,560 --> 00:01:50,480 Speaker 1: known to possess planetary systems. The closest star to our 32 00:01:50,520 --> 00:01:53,400 Speaker 1: Solar system, Proximates Centauri, is a red dwarf, and in 33 00:01:54,480 --> 00:01:57,559 Speaker 1: astronomers made the historic discovery of a small Earth sized 34 00:01:57,560 --> 00:02:00,600 Speaker 1: exo planet in its orbit. That world, called Proxima B, 35 00:02:01,040 --> 00:02:03,600 Speaker 1: is the closest habitable zone exo planet to us, and 36 00:02:03,640 --> 00:02:06,000 Speaker 1: may even have a temperate atmosphere that could support an 37 00:02:06,000 --> 00:02:10,560 Speaker 1: alien ecosystem. However, Proxima Centauri is a violent star that 38 00:02:10,639 --> 00:02:14,079 Speaker 1: regularly erupts with powerful flares and pumps out X ray 39 00:02:14,120 --> 00:02:17,080 Speaker 1: and ultra violet radiation, which tend to be deadly to 40 00:02:17,120 --> 00:02:19,320 Speaker 1: life as we know it. If life could evolve on 41 00:02:19,360 --> 00:02:22,359 Speaker 1: Proxima B, and that's a big if, the planet would 42 00:02:22,440 --> 00:02:26,160 Speaker 1: need a very powerful magnetosphere, a global magnetic field, to 43 00:02:26,320 --> 00:02:29,680 Speaker 1: deflect those powerful stellar winds and thus prevent its atmosphere 44 00:02:29,720 --> 00:02:32,480 Speaker 1: from being stripped away and to prevent any life forms 45 00:02:32,480 --> 00:02:36,880 Speaker 1: from being irradiated. Ross, on the other hand, lives next 46 00:02:36,880 --> 00:02:39,880 Speaker 1: to an inactive red dwarf star one that isn't blasting 47 00:02:39,919 --> 00:02:42,919 Speaker 1: local space with a massive dose of radiation. In fact, 48 00:02:42,960 --> 00:02:45,920 Speaker 1: according to an E s O statement, Ross one is 49 00:02:45,919 --> 00:02:49,200 Speaker 1: the quietest nearby star to host such a temperate exo planet. 50 00:02:49,639 --> 00:02:52,239 Speaker 1: Despite being twenty times closer to its star than Earth 51 00:02:52,320 --> 00:02:55,920 Speaker 1: is to the Sun, Ross only receives thirty eight percent 52 00:02:56,000 --> 00:02:59,520 Speaker 1: more radiation. If it does have an atmosphere, life might 53 00:02:59,560 --> 00:03:02,400 Speaker 1: have had an opportunity to gain a foothold without getting fried. 54 00:03:03,120 --> 00:03:05,960 Speaker 1: Although radiation may not be a problem, orbiting so close 55 00:03:06,000 --> 00:03:08,520 Speaker 1: to a red dwarf star presents a unique situation for 56 00:03:08,639 --> 00:03:14,200 Speaker 1: habitable zone exoplanets like Ross. For example, researchers expect that 57 00:03:14,240 --> 00:03:18,079 Speaker 1: the planet is tidally locked. Tidal locking occurs when a 58 00:03:18,120 --> 00:03:20,880 Speaker 1: planet orbits close to its star, like the Moon is 59 00:03:20,919 --> 00:03:23,680 Speaker 1: tidally locked with Earth. That's the reason why we only 60 00:03:23,680 --> 00:03:25,680 Speaker 1: ever see one side of the Moon facing Us as 61 00:03:25,680 --> 00:03:29,360 Speaker 1: it orbits the planet. Exoplanets with compact orbits are also 62 00:03:29,400 --> 00:03:32,920 Speaker 1: expected to become tidally locked with their stars. One hemisphere 63 00:03:33,000 --> 00:03:36,000 Speaker 1: is perpetually facing the star and the other hemisphere is 64 00:03:36,000 --> 00:03:40,400 Speaker 1: always facing away. But this wouldn't necessarily be a death sentence. 65 00:03:40,680 --> 00:03:44,119 Speaker 1: With the right atmosphere or proportion of land masses two oceans, 66 00:03:44,320 --> 00:03:46,640 Speaker 1: heat from the star could be distributed from the planet's 67 00:03:46,680 --> 00:03:49,920 Speaker 1: warm daylight side to the cool side in perpetual darkness. 68 00:03:50,360 --> 00:03:54,640 Speaker 1: For now, However, though Ross is an exciting discovery, there's 69 00:03:54,680 --> 00:03:57,160 Speaker 1: no way of knowing if the nearby world even possesses 70 00:03:57,160 --> 00:04:00,600 Speaker 1: an atmosphere, let alone whether that hypothetical atmo sphere has 71 00:04:00,640 --> 00:04:03,800 Speaker 1: the right chemical balance for life to thrive. In July, 72 00:04:03,920 --> 00:04:06,920 Speaker 1: the air CBO radio telescope in Puerto Rico detected a 73 00:04:06,960 --> 00:04:11,920 Speaker 1: mysterious low frequency signal emanating from the Ross system. Although 74 00:04:11,960 --> 00:04:14,360 Speaker 1: there was some excitement for the possibility of a CETI 75 00:04:14,440 --> 00:04:17,120 Speaker 1: like alien radio signal, astronomers think that this is the 76 00:04:17,240 --> 00:04:20,360 Speaker 1: least likely explanation, favoring the detection of an as yet 77 00:04:20,440 --> 00:04:24,200 Speaker 1: unexplained stellar phenomenon or a rogue signal from an orbiting satellite. 78 00:04:25,120 --> 00:04:28,080 Speaker 1: When the next generation of ground and space based telescopes 79 00:04:28,120 --> 00:04:30,680 Speaker 1: go online, such as the E S O S Extremely 80 00:04:30,760 --> 00:04:35,320 Speaker 1: Large Telescope and NASA's James Webb Space Telescope us B, 81 00:04:35,400 --> 00:04:38,120 Speaker 1: will become a prime target for astronomers to look for 82 00:04:38,160 --> 00:04:41,000 Speaker 1: the spectroscopic clues of chemicals that could be produced by 83 00:04:41,000 --> 00:04:45,240 Speaker 1: an alien biosphere. Telescopes like the Extremely Large Telescope will 84 00:04:45,240 --> 00:04:47,599 Speaker 1: be on the lookout for water, a substance that is 85 00:04:47,720 --> 00:04:49,919 Speaker 1: essential in its liquid form for all life as we 86 00:04:50,000 --> 00:04:54,120 Speaker 1: know it, but also possible bio markers like dioxygen, ozone, methane, 87 00:04:54,120 --> 00:04:57,000 Speaker 1: and carbon dioxide, which could betray the presence of a 88 00:04:57,040 --> 00:05:01,960 Speaker 1: habitable or even possibly inhabited atmosphere, though of course, individually, 89 00:05:02,200 --> 00:05:05,560 Speaker 1: none of these chemicals would provide definite proof for life. 90 00:05:09,400 --> 00:05:11,880 Speaker 1: Today's episode was written by Ian O'Neill and produced by 91 00:05:11,920 --> 00:05:14,919 Speaker 1: Tristan McNeil and Tyler Clang. For more on this and 92 00:05:14,960 --> 00:05:17,320 Speaker 1: lots of other far out topics, visit How Stuff Works 93 00:05:17,360 --> 00:05:20,000 Speaker 1: Dot com brain Stuff is production of I heart Radio. 94 00:05:20,200 --> 00:05:23,160 Speaker 1: For more podcasts My heart Radio, visit the iHeart Radio app, 95 00:05:23,240 --> 00:05:26,000 Speaker 1: Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.