First potentially habitable Earth-sized planet
 

Damn, that's crazy. Lots of people predicted that the Kepler telescope would detect a planet like this, but I don't think many would have guessed this soon. Wonder if it was lucky.

500 lightyears away is to far, I was to see one in the 20-50 range.

Even it was 4 light years away (distance to the nearest star) it would still be too far.

Which makes me so sad.

as of right now that is correct, and I did read that, (not talking nuclear) sorta funny he doesn't even use a combination of all the things we have (right now for the theoretical fastest). If you used plantary/then short chemical/then ion thruster for the rest of the duration would far exceed any of the time frames giving for any of them (by them selves)

"Assuming all the 81.5 kg of xenon propellant translates into a maximum velocity of 56,000 km/hr (assuming there is no other forms of propulsion, such as a gravitational slingshot, and this velocity remains constant for the duration of the journey), Deep Space 1 would take over 81,000 years to travel the 4.3 light years (or 1.3 parsecs) from Earth to Proxima Centauri."

Once you can go even 75% of the speed of light it makes it more attainable ( in the span of ones life)

500 light years would ( never ) happen period.

There's not much point in reading about current "best methods" for traveling to other star systems. Our current knowledge is abysmal. There's a lot of different theories swirling around that could end up being true that would allow for faster-than-light travel. But more likely, as past science breakthroughs have shown us, our current models and ideas will be largely re-written in another 50 years of research.

My guess would be we'll eventually find a way.

The thing that would suck the most is to do a generation ship. You'd be frozen and shipped there for hundreds of years, and in that time, we would likely figure out a way to get there faster. Everyone you know would be dead and there would already be a ton of people at your destination. Would suck to wake up to that.

lol prometheus

If by some chance that top of the page graphic is the least bit accurate, the whole planet looks like one big Sub-Saharan Africa.

On a more serious note, I really hope we get to see some sort of technological leap during our lifetimes. I wish I were bright enough to contribute, but for now I'll stick to slower vehicles (lawnmowers :P).

The graphic is just for display. We don't have the technology to get an image like that. They know very little for sure right now, but will most likely get a better idea of what elements comprise the majority of the planet in coming months/years.

Haha, yea I know we can't image things like that. Light from that far away, assuming the faint little traces from over yonder are even able to register, would show up as an unrecognizable mess. Sort of like trying to paint Van Gogh style with buckshot as the medium.

Btw, how do you like teaching after settling in these past couple years? I've been thinking more and more about going that route. I'm not cutout for the corporate world! Also, still in Topeka?

Yeah pretty sure the only way we can see a planet like this by a) the shadow it casts or b) the slight pull it has on the sun it orbits, causing it wobble a little