New Planet Discovered Similar to Earth

[86 IROC-Z]

We probably won't know more about it in our lifetime but this is awesome!



pics/source
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100929/...sci_new_earths

WASHINGTON – Astronomers say they have for the first time spotted a planet beyond our own in what is sometimes called the Goldilocks zone for life: Not too hot, not too cold. Juuuust right.

Not too far from its star, not too close. So it could contain liquid water. The planet itself is neither too big nor too small for the proper surface, gravity and atmosphere.

It's just right. Just like Earth.

"This really is the first Goldilocks planet," said co-discoverer R. Paul Butler of the Carnegie Institution of Washington.

[Related: Seven best places to sleep under the stars]

The new planet sits smack in the middle of what astronomers refer to as the habitable zone, unlike any of the nearly 500 other planets astronomers have found outside our solar system. And it is in our galactic neighborhood, suggesting that plenty of Earth-like planets circle other stars.

Finding a planet that could potentially support life is a major step toward answering the timeless question: Are we alone?

Scientists have jumped the gun before on proclaiming that planets outside our solar system were habitable only to have them turn out to be not quite so conducive to life. But this one is so clearly in the right zone that five outside astronomers told The Associated Press it seems to be the real thing.

"This is the first one I'm truly excited about," said Penn State University's Jim Kasting. He said this planet is a "pretty prime candidate" for harboring life.

Life on other planets doesn't mean E.T. Even a simple single-cell bacteria or the equivalent of shower mold would shake perceptions about the uniqueness of life on Earth.

But there are still many unanswered questions about this strange planet. It is about three times the mass of Earth, slightly larger in width and much closer to its star — 14 million miles away versus 93 million. It's so close to its version of the sun that it orbits every 37 days. And it doesn't rotate much, so one side is almost always bright, the other dark.

Temperatures can be as hot as 160 degrees or as frigid as 25 degrees below zero, but in between — in the land of constant sunrise — it would be "shirt-sleeve weather," said co-discoverer Steven Vogt of the University of California at Santa Cruz.

It's unknown whether water actually exists on the planet, and what kind of atmosphere it has. But because conditions are ideal for liquid water, and because there always seems to be life on Earth where there is water, Vogt believes "that chances for life on this planet are 100 percent."

The astronomers' findings are being published in Astrophysical Journal and were announced by the National Science Foundation on Wednesday.

The planet circles a star called Gliese 581. It's about 120 trillion miles away, so it would take several generations for a spaceship to get there. It may seem like a long distance, but in the scheme of the vast universe, this planet is "like right in our face, right next door to us," Vogt said in an interview.

That close proximity and the way it was found so early in astronomers' search for habitable planets hints to scientists that planets like Earth are probably not that rare.

Vogt and Butler ran some calculations, with giant fudge factors built in, and figured that as much as one out of five to 10 stars in the universe have planets that are Earth-sized and in the habitable zone.

With an estimated 200 billion stars in the universe, that means maybe 40 billion planets that have the potential for life, Vogt said. However, Ohio State University's Scott Gaudi cautioned that is too speculative about how common these planets are.

Vogt and Butler used ground-based telescopes to track the star's precise movements over 11 years and watch for wobbles that indicate planets are circling it. The newly discovered planet is actually the sixth found circling Gliese 581. Two looked promising for habitability for a while, another turned out to be too hot and the fifth is likely too cold. This sixth one bracketed right in the sweet spot in between, Vogt said.

With the star designated "a," its sixth planet is called Gliese 581g.

"It's not a very interesting name and it's a beautiful planet," Vogt said. Unofficially, he's named it after his wife: "I call it Zarmina's World."

The star Gliese 581 is a dwarf, about one-third the strength of our sun. Because of that, it can't be seen without a telescope from Earth, although it is in the Libra constellation, Vogt said.

But if you were standing on this new planet, you could easily see our sun, Butler said.

The low-energy dwarf star will live on for billions of years, much longer than our sun, he said. And that just increases the likelihood of life developing on the planet, the discoverers said.

"It's pretty hard to stop life once you give it the right conditions," Vogt said.

[SiggyZ]

We'll find Data there, I'm sure of it.

[Mr. Luos]

About time.
Now I can move.

[Aetos]

ENGAGE!

[SiggyZ]

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZdE_jlyRndw[/ame]

[Aetos]

Star Trek Generations

[Spaz]

read this in the morning... there are a shit ton on planets like that in our own galaxy...

[Aetos]

read this in the morning... there are a shit ton on planets like that in our own galaxy...

Take me to your leader

[jiveass]

read this in the morning... there are a shit ton on planets like that in our own galaxy...

well then why are we so worried about fuckin this one up?

[Spaz]

well then why are we so worried about fuckin this one up?

i'm not...

[justinmc978]

It's unknown whether water actually exists on the planet, and what kind of atmosphere it has. But because conditions are ideal for liquid water, and because there always seems to be life on Earth where there is water, Vogt believes "that chances for life on this planet are 100 percent."

Vogt sounds like a reasonable and logical scientist.

[third_shift|studios]

we should send them an LS1 and see what they do with it.

[Nhra Firebird]

we should send them an LS1 and see what they do with it.

What if they already made the ls1 a 100 years ago? They might be on the ls100

[SMWS6TA]

So when does Iroc leave to go home?


Can we use "Return to Sender"?

[CJREX]

Quotes are from the article

It's just right. Just like Earth.

It is about three times the mass of Earth, slightly larger in width and much closer to its star — 14 million miles away versus 93 million. It's so close to its version of the sun that it orbits every 37 days.

And it doesn't rotate much, so one side is almost always bright, the other dark.

Vogt sounds like an astronomy version of people who spend their paycheck on lottery tickets, seeing a sure thing where the odds are quite slim. Tidally locked so one side always faces the star? A 37 day year? But it's Just Like Earth!

It's unknown whether water actually exists on the planet, and what kind of atmosphere it has. But because conditions are ideal for liquid water, and because there always seems to be life on Earth where there is water, Vogt believes "that chances for life on this planet are 100 percent."

100%! YeeHaw! I need his crystal ball.

"It's not a very interesting name and it's a beautiful planet," Vogt said. Unofficially, he's named it after his wife: "I call it Zarmina's World."

It's only been observed indirectly by gravitational wobble or stellar transit, but it's a beautiful world!

Vogt sounds like a reasonable and logical scientist.

This X 1,000,000,000,000

While this is an exciting discovery, this guy Vogt sounds like he's already been there and is now writing his Nobel acceptance speech.

Certainty from a distance is not certainty at all.

[LSCyaL8R]

would be an awesome place to visit if life developed. if it does not in fact rotate in relation to it's star you would have a hot side and a cold dark side. this could lead to warring factions of the dark siders and the light dwellers. I think it's safe to assume that the fought over areas would be the "twilight" band around the planet where it is neither bright and hot nor dark and cold. It is in this area where evolution could create the perfect species of life on this planet. the ones that would be capable of surviving on either side of this world. this is of course assuming life were to spring up on the poles first..

perhaps this "twilight" band is where the species originated and lived for thousands of years... like a "ring world" avoiding the dark and cold on one side and the heat of the other. only spreading out and adapting as population growth forced them to move and inhabit these areas creating differentiation among the members of this species....

yeah i could probably go on with this for hours. Would make an awesome species for a star trek episode.

[grouch0jr]

i read an article with different details this morning. this stuff always gets muffed up because journalists usually arent very technical.

[Nhra Firebird]

would be an awesome place to visit if life developed. if it does not in fact rotate in relation to it's star you would have a hot side and a cold dark side. this could lead to warring factions of the dark siders and the light dwellers. I think it's safe to assume that the fought over areas would be the "twilight" band around the planet where it is neither bright and hot nor dark and cold. It is in this area where evolution could create the perfect species of life on this planet. the ones that would be capable of surviving on either side of this world. this is of course assuming life were to spring up on the poles first..

perhaps this "twilight" band is where the species originated and lived for thousands of years... like a "ring world" avoiding the dark and cold on one side and the heat of the other. only spreading out and adapting as population growth forced them to move and inhabit these areas creating differentiation among the members of this species....

yeah i could probably go on with this for hours. Would make an awesome species for a star trek episode.

maybe they keep the ugly people on the dark side.

[SMWS6TA]

Planet reminds me of a novel series Necroscope. 1 half light/1 half dark + vamp wars. Good series

[Zapper2003]

I think it's safe to assume that the "twilight" band around the planet is neither bright or hot

But they all love Edward and his sparkly skin. Homo.


Oh, and the "Twilight Band" he's talking about..