Have they found Downbelow?

by | Apr 29, 2015 | Journal | 5 comments

You may recall that Tau Ceti is Pell’s Star, with several planets, including Downbelow.Tau Ceti Planets

5 Comments

  1. paul
    paul on April 29, 2015 at 3:56 pm

    Are Downers good at dodgeball?

    In 2004, a team of UK astronomers led by Jane Greaves discovered that Tau Ceti has more than ten times the amount of cometary and asteroidal material orbiting it than does the Sun. This was determined by measuring the disk of cold dust orbiting the star produced by collisions between such small bodies. This result puts a damper on the possibility of complex life in the system, because any planets would suffer from large impact events roughly ten times more frequently than Earth. Greaves noted at the time of her research that “it is likely that [any planets] will experience constant bombardment from asteroids of the kind believed to have wiped out the dinosaurs”. Such bombardments would inhibit the development of biodiversity between impacts. However, it is possible that a large Jupiter-sized gas giant could deflect comets and asteroids. Wikipedia – TauCeti

  3. paul
    paul on May 1, 2015 at 9:26 am

    Wanna name a planet?

    The NameExoWorlds contest, organised by the IAU and Zooniverse, is now entering its next stage. The 20 most popular ExoWorlds have been made available for naming proposals from registered clubs and non-profit organisations.

    Although people have been naming celestial objects for millennia, the IAU has the task of assigning scientifically recognised names to newly discovered celestial bodies by its member countries. The NameExoWorlds contest provides not only the first opportunity for the public to name exoplanets, but also, for the first time in centuries, to give popular names to some stars — those that have known exoplanets in orbit around them.

    The list of the 20 ExoWorlds can be found from the link below.*

    *http://www.nameexoworlds.org/the_exoworlds

    • chondrite
      chondrite on May 1, 2015 at 2:12 pm

      I am of the opinion that planets presciently named in SF&F should have first dibs! Planets multiply named can throw rock-paper-scissors-lizard-Spock to determine who gets naming privileges.

  4. BlueCatShip
    BlueCatShip on May 1, 2015 at 4:19 pm

    Five times the size of Earth? That’s heavy, spaceman, heavy time ’round Pell….

    Could be mighty interesting dealing with a heavy-world critter or alien traipsing about underfoot / overhead….

    Well, Pell’s Downbelow seemed a nice enough spot, for the most part.

    But then, I *still* hold out hope for more Chanur / Compact and more Alliance-Union books. 😉

    However, I’m happy with whatever your muses want to write. It’s always a super read.

Submit a Comment

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.