美国国家公共电台 NPR Why The Discovery Of An Earth-Like Planet Is Such A Big Deal

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Why The Discovery Of An Earth-Like Planet Is Such A Big Deal 

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We like to think all stories are equal. But our astrophysicist thinks we did not make a big-enough deal of what he thinks is a story so important it gives him chills. So here's last week's news through the misty² eyes of NPR blogger Adam Frank.

ADAM FRANK, BYLINE³: Now, you may have heard the news. But did you really hear the news? Recently, astronomers⁴ announced they found a planet orbiting Proxima Centauri, the star closest to the sun. Turns out we've got a neighbor. And that's a big deal.

See, most of the stars are so far away that even with a hyper rocket traveling close to light speed, it would still take millennia⁵ to reach them - but not Proxima Centauri. Just 4 light years away, our hypothetical hyper rocket could get there in less than a human lifetime.

That's why a planet orbiting Proxima Centauri has been a science fiction obsession⁶ for, like, ever. The Proxima planet is so close that extreme telescopes we're building right now may give us an unprecedented⁷, first-of-a-lifetime view of an alien world.

Come on. That's huge. But then there's the deep future. Perhaps in five, 10 or 20 centuries from now, we'll have made it to Proxima's planet.

That means in the same march of years that separates us from the time of Jesus and the Roman Empire, this alien but neighbor planet may be home for billions of our descendants and have already become our first step outwards⁸ in the great adventure that is the stars.

CORNISH: Adam Frank's job on Earth is to teach astrophysics at the University of Rochester.