This is the fifth planet I’ve discussed in terms of exobiology and the search for life. Other posts include Kepler 16, Wolf 359, PSR B1257+12 b, and PSO J318.5−22, a Rogue Planet. One of these planets I mentioned circles a dwarf star, another a red giant, another a pulsar and still another no star at all. In the process I’ve added discussions on alien DNA, and alternatives (to carbon) bases for life (e.g. ammonia, silicon, barium and so on), and I’ve also touched on frozen water worlds. Kepler 131b appears to be a rocky planet that is not quite in the habitable zone (as in the Goldilocks Principle: “Not too sour, not too sweet. Just right!”) However, what makes this planet different assuming it had intelligent life–or even human life–is that the planet has such a huge mass that a civilization might never be able to achieve escape velocity (the speed which is necessary to launch a payload into space.) The escape velocity of Earth is 24,923 mph. But interestingly, that would be the speed needed if someone were to fire a blunt object out of a giant canon. Because a rocket engine continually applies power to the rocket as it climbs to the upper atmosphere until burnout, the speed needed in practical terms is something less than that. The escape velocity of Kepler 131b, with a mass greater than sixteen times that of Earth, a rocket must be prepared to travel at a speed more than three times the 25,000 mph it takes to escape from Earth’s gravity. It a civilization were capable of breaking free of their surface under those conditions, it would definitely be alien to us.
Alien
Of course, the term “alien,” itself, suggests that something is so different than us that we cannot comprehend it. For example, the language of the Heptapods in the 2016 movie “Arrival,” a 2016 movie directed by Denis Villeneuve and starring Amy Adams, Jeremy Renner, and Forest Whitaker. Here, huge but ungainly creatures from another world are enclosed in a transparent tank filled with mist like vapors, most likely to preserve their peculiar atmosphere or pressure requirements. Communication with humans is seemingly impossible. How do you begin? What is the language nuances and so on? The answers to these questions are what make this movie so interesting. Eventually and in the absence of auditory communication, a written language develops. But this is alien in and of itself and consists of “sentences” arrayed symbolically in a circle.
“Arrival” is an upcoming 2016 American science fiction drama film directed by Denis Villeneuve and written by Eric Heisserer, based on the short story “Story of Your Life” by author Ted Chiang. The film stars Amy Adams, Jeremy Renner, and Forest Whitaker. This photograph is for editorial use only and is the copyright of the film company and/or the photographer assigned by the film or production company and can only be reproduced by publications in conjunction with the promotion of the above Film. A Mandatory Credit to the film company is required. The Photographer should also be credited when known.
Life in a fishbowl
So, it is possible that if there were intelligent life on Kepler 131b, they might have some other sort of propulsion than we can’t imagine. If not, then the inhabitants of their planet live on what is known as a “fishbowl planet.” We would likely never hear from them in that case. This because if they cannot launch members of their society into orbit, then they likely could not launch satellites, either which means they have no ability in terms of interstellar communication.
Civilizations that may develop in oceanic planets that have no land might be similarly challenged. And then there are a few other instances as mentioned in IFL Science:
Other possible fishbowl worlds are proposed, including binary systems where it is always daylight and the stars cannot be seen, or a world constantly covered in thick cloud. On these worlds, just like the Krikkit planet in the Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, caught in a giant cloud of dust, they may not develop the desire to explore outside of their own planet. Let’s hope it doesn’t end like it does with the Krikkit if they ever find out we’re out there.”
The Kepler telescope. By NASA – https://science.nasa.gov/toolkits/spacecraft-icons (image link), Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=76268556. Credit NASA/JPL.
Kepler 131b is in the constellation Lyra and it was discovered by the Kepler spacecraft in 2014. It is too faint to see with the naked eye. It moves very rapidly, circling it’s star (Kepler 131) every sixteen days. Kepler 131 is 751 light years from our own Sun. More than that, the planet is not in the habitable zone, which means that Earth-like life is not possible.
No more practical information (atmosphere, surface, temperatures) is currently known on this planet. It was discovered during a transit of Kepler 131. A transit is when a planet or other object passes between the sun and the observer. In this case, the sun is Kepler 131 and the observer is the Kepler telescope. The object crossing the disc of the sun in Kepler 131b. Because Kepler 131 is so far from Earth, often astronomers note a dimming of the star, itself if the planet is too small to be visualized directly.
A recent article on Kepler 131b can be found in here.
