A Message from Above: Planet of the Red Dwarf Star WOLF-1016

By Dr. Klaus L.E. Kaiser

Astronomers are excited: a new planet has been discovered, currently termed WOLF-1016c, a planet of the red dwarf star WOLF-1016.

It’s said to be the planet most similar yet discovered to Earth, both in size, trajectory and other features but a bit far away, about 15 light years or so. Let’s put that distance into perspective.

Speed of Light and Distance

With the speed of light roughly being 300,000 km/SECOND (or 190,000 miles/second), even a meteor falling on earth at a speed of “only” 50 km/second is a slowpoke in comparison. Of course, relative to common speed limits on highways of 100 km (60 miles) per HOUR, they do compare rather favorably, not to mention typical downtown stop-and-go traffic in the city near to you.

Because of the large galactic and intergalactic distances, astronomers have come up with a measure of distance that far exceeds what you ever will experience in travels on this planet, namely a Light-Year. A light-year (LY) is the distance of an object calculated as the product of the speed of light per second times the number of seconds per year.

A rough calculation (using rounded numbers) of the LY unit then comes to: 300,000 km/s (speed of light), times 100,000 s/day, times 300 days/year = 3×10^5 x 10^5 x 3×10^2 = 10^13 km =10,000,000,000,000 km or 6,000,000,000,000 miles. That’s the distance of an object just one LY away. The new earth-like planet Wolf-1016c is about 15 LY away from earth.

With all those zeros one can easily lose oversight. Therefore let me give you a small table that shows some relevant distances in comparison, like to the Earth’s Moon or this planet’s next planetary neighbor Mars, or the Sun. Both the new Wolf planet and its central star (comparable to the Earth’s Sun) are far, far away in comparison. The astronomical distances involved are most easily conveyed by using units that one can at least somewhat relate to, as in the table nearby:

Dear reader, you will readily realize that new planet is not exactly close to your corner-store or the next shopping mall. In fact, that planet is so far away that only astronomers can think of it because they’re accustomed to units of distance.

Expanse of the Universe

Perhaps you can recall the triumphant statement by Neil Armstrong, in 1969, when he was the first human to step on the surface of the Moon. Since then, that feat has only been repeated another five times with the last one in 1972; you may wonder why. If mankind wants to explore our “next-door” neighbor planet Mars, would it not be logical to use the Moon as a stepping stool?

In relative terms, the (earth’s) Moon is truly just around the next corner. In absolute terms, however, the universe is unfathomly vast and most stars, planets and their moons, comets, asteroids and other stellar objects are extremely remote.

Mankind’s interstellar space probes, like the Hubble telescope allow us to peer deep into the universe. The messages (light beams) obtained give us information that originated millions or even billions of years ago – despite the “unearthly” speed of light itself.

That’s why the finding of a distant planet, earth-like or not, may engender hopes of space exploration, human settlement of such heavenly bodies in the not too distant future and similar ideas. However, it’s not just the distance that will put a crimp into such thoughts; there are other considerations too, like the inhospitality of the universe. 

Inhospitality of the Universe

Most heavenly bodies that we know have some “faults.” They are either too hot (bright stars, like our Sun), too cold, have no water, or have no free oxygen-containing atmosphere that would allow humans to breathe. In fact, most are anything else but sea-side resorts at which to spend your next holiday.

You should rather think of them as inhospitable deserts of rock and sand and with an atmosphere (if there is any at all) that would not sustain life as we know it.
Mankind may indeed achieve sending a mission to Mars some day in the future. Clever entrepreneurs are already selling (one-way) tickets for a “holiday on Mars” and less clever people have made sizeable down-payments for such. I, for one, think this to be an utopian dream. I’d rather prefer to think of Mars as a place from which I’d like to stay away.

In terms of the planet WOLF-1016c, you’d better look at it as described in the biblical scriptures, perhaps as the heavenly object followed by the Three Wise Men in search of Christ.

Merry Christmas to You All!

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