Astronomy / Space Vulcan: a super-earth orbiting 40 Eridani

[Shadowdancer]

Go nuts, nerds!

https://www.skyandtelescope.com/astronomy-news/super-earth-vulcan/

(In Elite, the system is Omicron-2 Eridani or HIP 19849, the planet "Steven's Rock would be in roughly the correct orbit, but would need to eat a bunch of other bodies within that system.)

 

[Zak Gordon]

Cool! Just 32 light years away (at half the speed of light, if we can get that fast and slow down ok). I'm not sure what Warp speed that would be in Star Trek terminology, but it could be a feasible target to follow on from project Star Shot in the future.

 

[Agony_Aunt]

A 42 day year.... that's like 10 Christmases every Earth year!

 

[Zieman]

Cool! Just 32 light years away (at half the speed of light, if we can get that fast and slow down ok).

Nope.

Just 16 light years away.
One-way trip at half the speed of light would take 32 years.

Light year is a measure of distance, year is a measure of time.

 

[Zak Gordon]

One-way trip at half the speed of light would take 32 years.

That is what i meant: 32 year trip at half the speed of light.

 

[who?]

That is what i meant: 32 year trip at half the speed of light.

Ok, here's where I get confused.

Is that a 32 year trip from the perspective of the hypothetical probe making the trip, or 32 years for those of us on Earth waiting for it to arrive in that system? Because the answers should be very different.

 

[Para Handy]

Ok, here's where I get confused.

Is that a 32 year trip from the perspective of the hypothetical probe making the trip, or 32 years for those of us on Earth waiting for it to arrive in that system? Because the answers should be very different.

I am not going to address the figures but...

That is the time for an outside observer - i.e. someone on Earth or at the destination. For someone undetaking the journey, the elapsed time would be much shorter - as you approach the speed of light so your time perception slows. Look up time dilation for the low-down.

 

[Zieman]

Ok, here's where I get confused.

Is that a 32 year trip from the perspective of the hypothetical probe making the trip, or 32 years for those of us on Earth waiting for it to arrive in that system? Because the answers should be very different.

32 years for us, allowing high enough acceleration of the probe.

 

[Zieman]

I am not going to address the figures

One place to get the figures:
http://www.emc2-explained.info/Dilation-Calc/#.W6P4A_loSJA

To get more realistic estimate of the observed timeframes, you'd need to know the acceleration profile for the probe.