| News | |
Search the Story Page Archive |
The neck bones connected to the shoulder bone, the shoulder bone's connected to the foot bone, the foot bone's connec... oh sick!
Arthur Wellesly (arthur_wellesly@hotmail.com) writes:
I'm sure everyone knows that Reach is apparently in the Epsilon Eridani system. Well guess what? Epsilon Eridani is an actual star, and it is indeed close to Earth... only 10.5 lightyears! (99,340,500,000,000 km). So what is the true purpose of this message? Well, keep reading.
Expert scientists have determined that there are at least two planets in orbit around Epsilon Eridani. They are, of course, both gas giants. But these same scientists have also admitted that there may very well be rock class planets in the system, but they are smaller and harder to see. The two main problems are that Epsilon Eridani is a very young star, and secondly planets "a" and "b"'s proximity to the habitable zone (area where liquid water can actually exist (in this system it is estimated to be 0.53 AU)). You see, because of the star's young age, planets in the habitable zone would be bombarded with asteroids that have just recently been attracted to Epsilon Eridani's gravity. (The same thing was happening to†Earth at around the same time period).†The two planets, because of their proximity and position, would not help sling asteroids away from any hospitable planet like Jupiter does for us.
Bottom line: Any planet in the habitable zone in the Epsilon Eridani system would be suitable only for microorganisms and NOT for humans, such as Reach has been described.
Good research. But come on, give them some leeway... it is science FICTION after all ;)
-Finn
