Could Kepler 62f have life?

[RenegadeRad]

Hey fellow kerbalnauts! I wanted to discuss something with the smart science guys here

There is a five-planet system about 1,200 light-years from Earth in the constellation Lyra. The five planets of Kepler-62 orbit a star classified as a K2 dwarf, measuring just two thirds the size of the sun and only one fifth as bright. At seven billion years old, the star is somewhat older than the sun.

Much like our solar system, Kepler-62 is home to two habitable zone worlds, Kepler-62f and Kepler-62e. Kepler-62f orbits every 267 days and is only 40 percent larger than Earth, making it the smallest exoplanet known in the habitable zone of another star. The other habitable zone planet, Kepler-62e, orbits every 122 days and is roughly 60 percent larger than Earth.

The size of Kepler-62f is known, but its mass and composition are not. However, based on previous exoplanet discoveries of similar size that are rocky, scientists are able to determine its mass by association.

The two habitable zone worlds orbiting Kepler-62 have three interior companions, two larger than the size of Earth and one about the size of Mars. Kepler-62b, Kepler-62c and Kepler-62d, orbit every five, 12, and 18 days, respectively, making them very hot and inhospitable for life as we know it.

I mean, it is 1200 light years from earth, We right now are only seeing it as it was 1200 years ago, probably at 1200 years ago it had some primitive life forms like early men, and now they may have evolved into an intelligent civilization? I mean 1200 years is still a small time if we talk about evolution... 
 

[SargeRho]

We can't positively answer yet if it has life, it's too far away for that I think.

But It's possible that both of them have life.

[Spaceception]

52 minutes ago, RenegadeRad said:

Much like our solar system, Kepler-62 is home to two habitable zone worlds, Kepler-62f and Kepler-62e. Kepler-62f orbits every 267 days and is only 40 percent larger than Earth, making it the smallest exoplanet known in the habitable zone of another star. The other habitable zone planet, Kepler-62e, orbits every 122 days and is roughly 60 percent larger than Earth.

Do you mean sunlike stars?

Because Kepler 186f About the same size;

Kepler 438b Closer to the size of Earth than 62f;

Kepler 442b (Which orbits a sunlike star as well, and is slightly smaller than 62f)

And GJ 667e/f, which are both roughly the same size as 62f.

On the subject of life, I'm not sure, but out of all of the "habitable" planets Kepler has found, at least one has to be relatively Earthlike, and likely has life.

[RenegadeRad]

@Spaceception Nice to see you here! I love your interesting posts, keep it up!

On the contrary, no matter how the star, but if the planet is in the habitable zone than we may have life

[Spaceception]

1 minute ago, RenegadeRad said:

@Spaceception Nice to see you here! I love your interesting posts, keep it up!

On the contrary, no matter how the star, but if the planet is in the habitable zone than we may have life

Thanks, I didn't know I was interesting, I just posted cool things I found

Edited May 5, 2016 by Spaceception

[Scotius]

Well, technically in our own system there are three rocky, Earth-like planets in the "habitable zone". It would look very promising to any alien astronomer looking our way, isn't it? He\she\it would have no way to know that first is a blazing hot cauldron of CO2 and acid, and third is a barren, dry, cold desert wrapped in thin atmosphere. There are many more criteria needed for "life as we know it" than "rocky", "not too big" and "in a right distance from the star".

[insert_name]

1 hour ago, RenegadeRad said:

@Spaceception Nice to see you here! I love your interesting posts, keep it up!

On the contrary, no matter how the star, but if the planet is in the habitable zone than we may have life

Not exactly, the star may be emitting large quantities of radiation

[PB666]

2 hours ago, Scotius said:

Well, technically in our own system there are three rocky, Earth-like planets in the "habitable zone". It would look very promising to any alien astronomer looking our way, isn't it? He\she\it would have no way to know that first is a blazing hot cauldron of CO2 and acid, and third is a barren, dry, cold desert wrapped in thin atmosphere. There are many more criteria needed for "life as we know it" than "rocky", "not too big" and "in a right distance from the star".

4, we also have the moon too. not a planet but from a distance observer might possibly have life. He would have to get close enough to see that our earth moon system was a binary.

We can rule out mars moons because they are too small to see at great distance.

 

[Scotius]

Actually, it got me thinking. What if some of the "super-Earths" we've found aren't actually so massive? Maybe in fact they are binary bodies, like Earth-Moon and Pluto-Charon, and we just can't discern the difference with our limited instruments? I mean, in our system there are two examples of such combination i mentioned, so it isn't exactly unique as far as we can tell.

[Bill Phil]

4 hours ago, insert_name said:

Not exactly, the star may be emitting large quantities of radiation

Ours is. In fact, the habitable zone idea is kind of incorrect. Without an atmosphere like our own, water wouldn't be in liquid form. And the star's radiation would be pretty intense. 

The habitable zone is based on Earth's sea level pressure.

[RenegadeRad]

9 hours ago, Scotius said:

Actually, it got me thinking. What if some of the "super-Earths" we've found aren't actually so massive? Maybe in fact they are binary bodies, like Earth-Moon and Pluto-Charon, and we just can't discern the difference with our limited instruments? I mean, in our system there are two examples of such combination i mentioned, so it isn't exactly unique as far as we can tell.

This is legit. Pretty interesting thought you put up.

On the contrary, we don't even know those planets could support life, see what I mean here, even Mars is in the habitable zone, yet there are no signs of life. Possibly these planets may or may not contain life, or have an atmosphere too hostile for life to develop. Or there might be life with a completely different biology. Because even if something is in habitable zone, it doesn't mean that it can always support life, atmosphere and enviroment depends too...