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Three months later, another exhilarating caution came from the Mount Maunaki Observatory in Hawaii.

Another target planet has been discovered in the Alpha Centauri binary system!

It is a planet orbiting Alpha Centauri B, which the Extraterrestrial Civilizations Project team named Alpha Centauri Bb1, and distinguishes it from the previously discovered Alpha Centauri Bb.

The discovery of Alpha Centauri Bb1 was dramatic.

In a summary of the work sent back to the Pacific base by the Trunik project team, Hara accidentally discovered that there was something unusual in the orbital data of the two stars of the Alpha Centauri binary system.

Yuan decided that they must have been affected by the gravitational pull of other nearby stars, so he asked Durunik to collect and summarize more comprehensive observational data for him.

After two weeks of huge workload, Yuan used the calculation results to simulate the existence of at least two large objects in the orbit range of 130 million ~ 210 million kilometers from Alpha Centauri B.

Later, the project team members observed the signal of Alpha Centauri Bb1 at a distance of about 170 million kilometers from Alpha Centauri B.

The discovery of Alpha Centauri Bb1 immediately caused a sensation in the astronomical community.

The reason why it is so remarkable is that it is the second planet outside the solar system that is closest to Earth.

Most crucially, it is a planet in the habitable zone of the Alpha Centauri binary star system.

Alpha Centauri Bb1 has the potential to have life and even give birth to extraterrestrial civilizations.

......

In a conference room in the core area of the Pacific base of the Interstellar Exploration Alliance, Yuan Haochen was giving a report on the research work of Alpha Centauri Alpha Bb1 to the bigwigs of the base.

"Like the previously discovered Alpha Centauri star Aa, Alpha Centauri Bb1 is also a rocky planet, with a volume of about 212% of the Earth and a mass of about 5 times that of the Earth, and the atmosphere is not yet clear, and the surface air temperature is expected to be between -60~40 degrees Celsius, and its gravitational acceleration will be slightly higher than that of the Earth by 20%." Hara introduced the details while projecting a holographic diorama of Planet Bb1 in the center of the conference room.

"Quite an amazing discovery, a terrestrial planet in the habitable zone! This is what the top management of the headquarters wants to see the most. Chris, the new deputy commander of the base, gave a high evaluation.

"Could this be the home of the Earth's Creator?" Captain Watt of the Science Group guessed with interest.

"It's a possibility!"

"Did you finally find it?" ......

The other bigwigs also immediately became interested, and you and I expressed their opinions one by one.

"It's a possibility, but we can't make an accurate judgment until we see what it actually looks like. Maybe it's just a planet with a Martian environment. Yuan Haochen continued.

"In the Alpha Centauri binary system, where Proxima Centauri has very little influence, there is a very complicated situation." Yuan has already shown another holographic diorama of the Alpha Centauri binary star system during his conversation.

Yuan Haochen pointed to the space three-dimensional model of Alpha Centauri A and said: "According to the model we built, in the binary star system, the orbit of a planet around the star will only be firmly ruled by the gravitational pull of this star within one astronomical unit (AU, about 150 million kilometers), and its orbit period will be relatively constant." Alpha Centauri Bb1 is at a critical point in its orbit, and it is likely that it will one day be affected by the gravitational pull of a binary star system and leave its current orbit. “

"And where will Planet Bb1 go?" Commander Watt asked curiously.

"Binary gravitational systems are complex, and there can be a lot of situations." Yuan continued, "If a planet is far away from the star in the binary system, the following results will occur. “

Under the operation of Yuan Chen, the holographic model immediately began to simulate several operating states of the planet, so that everyone present could see it at a glance.

"In the first case, the planet will slowly break away from the original orbiting star and fly at a relatively slow speed to the edge of the binary gravitational system, just like Proxima Centauri, which will continue to orbit the binary system far away under the influence of the entire binary gravitational system."

"Is this the future destination of Alpha Centauri Aa?" Frank asked with a smile.

"Quite possibly. Of course, there is an extremely small chance that it will be recaptured by the gravitational pull of another star. ”

"In the second case, if the planet is massive and is ejected relatively quickly, it will continue to fly towards deep space. It reminds me of an old movie from decades ago - "Transformers". ”

"Oh God, 'Transformers' was my favorite movie when I was in elementary school." When it comes to childhood memories, Chris is instantly not calm

Yuan's topic immediately evoked the childhood memories of the elders present.

"Yes, the hometown of the Transformers, Cybertron was thrown into deep space by the chaotic gravitational pull of two stars after the formation of a robot civilization, and it is gone forever. (The chances of it encountering a new star are almost zero)," Yuan explained with a smile.

"So, that's why there are fewer planets in the Alpha Centauri binary system?" Someone asked.

"That's right, if the planets there hadn't gone far, they would have been hiding at the edge of the gravity of the binary star system. Maybe the Creator's homeland is now on the edge. Yuan Haochen introduced while delineating a range on the holographic model.

"Well, I think the heads of the base headquarters must be very concerned about how long Alpha Centauri Bb1 can stay in the habitable zone." Chris, the deputy commander of the base, asked suddenly.

"When the length of the planet's orbit is less than two astronomical units (about 300 million kilometers), an Earth-like planet may exist in a habitable orbit for 1 billion years." Yuan Haochen explained in detail and carefully, "Although the mass of Alpha Centauri Bb1 is larger than that of the Earth, its orbit is only about 1 astronomical unit. All things considered, it is conservatively estimated that it will exist in the habitable zone for more than 800 million years, but its surface temperature will get lower and lower in the later stages. “

"800 million years! Time is enough. It's just that I don't know if the planet Bb1 has the necessary conditions for human survival. Chris nodded.

(To be continued.) )