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alfa015

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  1. *The Wow signal lasted just 72 seconds and was 'unusual' and has yet to be traced *This led many to theorise the signal came from an intelligent alien civilisation *Amateur astronomer Alberto Caballero has been searching the Gaia catalogue *This catalogue contains details on 1.3 billion stars from around the universe *He found a Sun like star in the region of space the signal is known to originate Source: https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-8985997/Amateur-astronomer-traces-possible-source-notorious-WOW-signal.html
  2. Hello! I was recently interviewed by the Interplanetary Podcast regarding Solar One, a crewed interstellar spacecraft that I propose. For those interested, this is the podcast: https://www.interplanetary.org.uk/post/197-solar-one-alberto-caballero Clear skies!
  3. As some of you might know, I have designed a crewed interstellar spacecraft that I call Solar One. Basically, large flexible mirrors placed near the Sun would propel a one-mile light sail with a 4–crew spacecraft of 300 tons. To decelerate, an on-board compact fusion reactor would power a photon rocket placed at the front of the spacecraft that would 1) help decelerate and 2) ionize space hydrogen for the nuclear reactor. A Bussard scoop also placed at the front of the spacecraft would 1) collect those protons (ionized hydrogen) and 2) decelerate the spacecraft. Solar One would achieve an average of 22% the speed of light, which would allow the crew to reach the closest potentially habitable exoplanet in less than 19 years. Of course cryo-sleep and artificial gravity must be achieved first. Here is my paper in arXiv: https://arxiv.org/abs/2007.11474 And here a short movie of Solar One: https://youtu.be/JEf7Z_TLmgU Feedback is appreciated!
  4. Hi everybody, I would like to share with you a crewed interstellar spacecraft which I have designed and called Solar One. It employs a combination of 3 propulsion methods: nuclear fusion, beam-powered propulsion , and photon propulsion. Basically, several compact fusion reactors power a laser system that propels a huge light sail. Physicist Robert Forward already proposed in 1983 to use a 26-TW laser system to propel a 100-km light sail, a fresnel lens to focus the beam of the laser, and decelerate the spacecraft with a secondary light sail. I propose something a bit different, which is to use to use for example a 60 TW-laser to propel a 5-km light sail that would deploy from the spacecraft after the acceleration stage, use parabolic mirrors that gradually change their orientation in order to focus the laser beam, and finally use a photon rocket to decelerate the spacecraft. In theory, it could be possible to achieve 25% the speed of light, reaching the closest potentially habitable exoplanet in less than 20 years. There are of course many challenges, like building high-energy continuous-wave lasers, reducing the weight of the nuclear fusion reactors (and of course achieving effective nuclear fusion first), and minimizing the effects of zero gravity during such a long trip. What do you guys suggest to overcome these challenges? This is my paper and a short video that summarizes all. [MEDIA=youtube] [/MEDIA]
  5. Hello! NASA just released a new app where anybody can search for exoplanets. I thought it was a good idea to make a video-tutorial showing how to use it, so here it is: https://youtu.be/qeSnLchcb6c
  6. I would like to know your opinion about this. Do you think we should try to contact aliens? I think it's safe as long as we choose stars as old as the Sun or younger. I also think that, if a nearby civilization hasn't contacted with us yet, it's probably because they don't have the means to do so. Actually, according to Claudio Maccone, there are probably no advanced civilizations within 500 light years. There is an organization called METI, that tries to message extraterrestrial intelligence. More info here.
  7. So far, we have only discovered one exoplanet in the triple star system of Alpha Centauri: Proxima b. I think it is highly likely that there are more exoplanets in that system. What are your thoughts? I think this live streaming of Alpha Centauri might motivate you: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PCllBPRrHUE
  8. Guys, I made a short video that some of you might find helpful, especially these times. At least it was helpful for me while I was making it. Just some cinema shots with some music; I just put them together. Here it is: Stay safe!
  9. Book ''Is there life out there?'', by Sara Seager: https://www.saraseager.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/book-is-there-life-out-there.pdf Playlist on Exoplanets: http://www.youtube.com/watch?list=PL3RiFKfZj3psFWv83bbwYMuy88eQzCoHC&v=7UJEPKLmznk&feature=emb_title Search for exoplanets online: https://www.zooniverse.org/projects/nora-dot-eisner/planet-hunters-tess/classify AND https://www.zooniverse.org/projects/ianc2/exoplanet-explorers/classify NASA app Eyes on Exoplanets: https://exoplanets.nasa.gov/eyes-on-exoplanets/#/
  10. Here some mind-blowing about super habitable exoplanets: 1. The colour of the sky could be light blue, similar to the colour of the sky on Earth in summer. 2. The oceans could be shallow, with a turquoise blue colour. 3. The vegetation could cover more regions than in Earth, and the colour of the trees could be purple. Do you agree with these hypotheses?
  11. I would like to talk about an instrument that has been sometimes overlooked: ESPRESSO. As most of you probably know, ESPRESSO is the only current spectrograph able to detect Earth-sized planets. I think it will be a key instrument for 2 reasons: 1- The majority of the most potentially habitable exoplanets were discovered with the radial velocity method. 2- Only 0.5 % of the Earth-like planets in the Milky Way could be detectable by using transit photometry. Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N-gpNtFINJs Do you think we will find a nearby Earth 2.0 with ESPRESSO in 2020?
  12. I think that Alpha centauri could host the closest Earth-like planet. A study shows that 22% of G and K-type stars could have Earth-like planets orbiting in the habitable zone. There are 9 Sun-like stars within 25 light-years. If we make the calculation, two of those stars could have an Earth-like planet. One of those two exoplanets could be Tau Ceti e. Which exoplanet could be the other one? 7 out of the 9 closest Sun-like stars have low metallicity. The only two stars with high metallicity are Alpha Centauri A and Delta Pavonis, but this star is suspected to be variable. What do you guys think? Sources: https://youtu.be/MEou5_yTxus
  13. Hi, Forbes just published an article about the Habitable Exoplanet Hunting Project: http://www.forbes.com/sites/jamiecartereurope/2019/11/25/inside-the-247-search-for-another-habitable-planet-within-100-light-years-of-earth/#149fbf103442 I hope you find it interesting! We welcome any type of observatory to join us. Cheers!
  14. As some of you probably know, the Square Kilometre Array will become the biggest radio telescope on Earth, with a collecting area of 1 square kilometre. The construction will start in 2021 and the first light is expected to take place in 2027. It will cover the frequencies from 50 MHz to 15 Ghz. But what I wanted to share with you guys is a new study about how far the SKA can 'listen'. A recent study points out that the SKA could detect extraterrestrial airport radars 200 light years away. Source: What do you guys think?
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