New diving destination! (only 20 light-years away)

[trux]

Astronomers using the HARP instrument on the European Southern Observatory 3.6 meter telescope in La Sille, Chile found the first Earth-like exosolar planet in habitable zone of a star jut 20.5 light years away.

Prepare your diving or spearfishing gear, and enough of sandwiches for the journey!

SPACE.com -- Major Discovery: New Planet Could Harbor Water and Life

The new planet is about 50 percent bigger than Earth and about five times more massive. The new “super-Earth” is called Gliese 581 C, after its star, Gliese 581, a diminutive red dwarf star located 20.5 light-years away that is about one-third as massive as the Sun.

Computer models predict Gliese 581 C is either a rocky planet like Earth or a waterworld covered entirely by oceans.
“We have estimated that the mean temperature of this super-Earth lies between 0 and 40 degrees Celsius [32 to 104 degrees Fahrenheit], and water would thus be liquid,” Udry said.

 

[fcallagy]

I heard about it Trux but the gravity is meant to be an awful lot heavier than on earth I think, talk about crushed neoprene. Might not be any bass but could well be some huge flatties

 

[trux]

Yes, this planet has 50% bigger diameter and is about five times heavier, but once you are in the water and negatively buoyant, the Archimedes law takes care about the gravitation, so there is no need to worry too much about it. Only the buoyancy control gets more sensitive. Also the pressure gradient would be steeper with sinking, so you would need to compensate more frequently. I recommend that you pack with you the hardest fins you find, otherwise you might get into troubles trying to come back even from moderate depth. Better yet, take the Freediving Buoyancy Control Belt with you

 

[efattah]

The faster buoyancy change would mean FRC diving would be king!

 

[cdavis]

Breathing through a snorkel would be hell. Breathing at all in the water, even at the surface would be pretty hard.

Nice to know that there are other, at least semi-earthlike, planets out there.

Connor