A new planet in our neighborhood - how
likely is life there?
By Don Lincoln, August 24, 2016
Scientists working at the European Southern Observatory
(ESO), using the La Silla telescope, claim to have
discovered the closest exoplanet to Earth. Exoplanet
means planets orbiting stars other than the Sun. Most of
them are huge planets orbiting very near their star. The
newly discovered planet, which orbits Proxima Centauri,
a star within the so-called “habitable zone”, has been
named Proxima b.
Proxima Centauri is a red dwarf, which is the most common
type of star in the galaxy. Red dwarfs are much smaller
than our Sun, and are very dim. For instance, in the visible
spectrum that we use to see, Proxima Centauri gives off
0.0056% as much light as the Sun.
So what about life? Are there any chances that an alien
lizard might bask in Proxima Centauri’s light or try to find
shade under an alien tree? Dr. Guillem Anglada-Escudé,
co-author of the research from London University, believes
that “there is a reasonable expectation that this planet
might be able to host life”
But this belief is not consensual as other scientists think
the prospect of life is improbable. Although the temperature
of the planet is thought to be such that liquid water could
exist, it is unlikely that Proxima b is habitable, as the
planet is subject to stellar wind pressures of more than
2000 times those experienced by Earth from the solar
wind. These winds would likely blow any atmosphere
away, leaving the undersurface as the only vaguely
habitable location on that planet. You shouldn’t imagine,
thus, a lush and verdant world, with lovely blue waters,
sandy beaches and green plants.
So, what’s the bottom line? First, the discovery is
extremely exciting. The existence of a nearby planet in
the habitable zone will perhaps increase the interest in
efforts like Project Starshot, which aims to send
microprobes (instruments that apply a stable and wellfocused
beam of charged particles -electrons or ions- to
a sample) to Proxima Centauri. On the other hand, Proxima
b is unlikely to be a haven for people trying to escape the
ecological issues of Earth, so we should not view this
discovery as a way to ignore our own ecosystem.
Adapted from: < http://edition.cnn.com/2016/08/24/opinions/nearbyplanet-opinion-lincoln/>
Access Oct. 2016.
Glossário:
claim: afirmar; dwarf: anão; dim: opaco; give off: emitir;
lizard: lagarto; bask: aquecer-se; belief: crença; wind:
vento; undersurface: camada inferior; lush: viçoso;
bottom line: aspecto fundamental; aim: visar/ter por
objetivo; sample: amostra; haven: refúgio.
Read the text again and answer question
According to the text, some scientists, differently
from Dr. Guillem Anglada-Escudé’s opinion, believe that
the
