Potentially Habitable, Earth-like Planet Found
A new world has been discovered by astronomers that has many similar characteristics to Earth.
The Earth-like planet that could be covered in oceans and may support life is 20.5 light years away, and has the right temperature to allow liquid water on its surface.
This remarkable discovery appears to confirm the suspicions of most astronomers that the universe is swarming with Earth-like worlds.
We don’t yet know much about this planet, but scientists believe that it may be the best candidate so far for supporting extraterrestrial life.
The new planet, which orbits a small, red star called Gliese 581, is about one-and-a-half times the diameter of the Earth.
It probably has a substantial atmosphere and may be covered with large amounts of water – necessary for life to evolve – and, most importantly, temperatures are very similar to those on our world.
Most of this so far is speculative in terms of the planet being habitable, having an atmosphere, water or even life. However, there is this bit of encouraging news,
Astrobiologists – scientists who study the possibility of alien life – refer to a climate known as the Goldilocks Zone, where it is not so cold that water freezes and not so hot that it boils, but where it can lie on the planet’s surface as a liquid.
In our solar system, only one planet – Earth -lies in the Goldilocks Zone. Venus is far too hot and Mars is just too cold. This new planet lies bang in the middle of the zone, with average surface temperatures estimated to be between zero and 40c (32-102f). Lakes, rivers and even oceans are possible.
So what are scientists going to be doing with this discovery?
Just because Gliese 581c is habitable does not mean that it is inhabited, but we do know its sun is an ancient star – in fact, it is one of the oldest stars in the galaxy, and extremely stable. If there is life, it has had many billions of years to evolve.
This makes this planet a prime target in the search for life. According to Seth Shostak, of the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence Institute in California, the Gliese system is now a prime target for a radio search. ‘We had actually looked at this system before but only for a few minutes. We heard nothing, but now we must look again.’
Also, by 2020 it is expected that there will be a telescope in orbit that can detect life on Gliese 581c. They would look for oxygen and methane in the atmosphere which would be good circumstantial evidence for life.
This article has some more information. For example, only 220 planets outside of our solar system have been found so far. This suggests that the number of planets in our galaxy that at least offer the potential for habitability and life number in the millions.
And yet the spirit of Carl Sagan commands we get our hopes up!
Can we send the liberals there, please ,pretty please?
Wait a minute — are you guys implying that media reporting on matters of esoteric scientific content might not be 100% perfectly accurate?
No Mcgehee, I’m saying this is a cool discovery, and for me, further evidence that the IDers/Creationists are full of it.
I have had a problem with the so call “Goldilocks Zones†since I been a child. I never believed that life couldn’t exist key word is “couldn’t†without the sun, certain PH levels or other particular parameters. Teachers told me there was consensus and it was scientific fact. It was not scientific fact. NASA even agrees with me now.
http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2003/02oct_goldilocks.htm?list101728
How time can change our perception of what is possible and what is not.
Verdon, the Bible clearly states there are other worlds. People like you deny creation yet have the audacity to think you can effect climate change. Some would call the fool, one who would put faith in science which is part conjecture, rather than something which cannot be disproved. I pity you Verdon. When you die it all fades to black. For me, like the metamorphose of a butterfly, life changes, but goes on. Faith sustains, knowledge only takes one part of the way and is subject to error.
Hopefully this won’t stir Steve up, but I find it hilarious that another planet that POTENTIALLY could support life somehow means Intelligent Design/Creationism is a farce.
I look forward to hearing what an idiot I am, coming soon.
David,
Have you read the ID/Creationist arguments about how the Earth is “special” and hence proves design? If it turns out that there are tens of millions of “Earths” then it isn’t quite so special.
But does not disporve that they were created.
It is evidence in favor of naturalism vs. supernaturalism. So…no it doesn’t prove anything. But it does argue against design/special creation.
I’ve heard the Democrats have proposed a Gliese 581c voting rights bill.
Steve,
Why bother with the ID/creationist stuff?
There is no such thing as evidence that could argue against such a position, becuase their argument is not rational. It is a “meta-argument”, if you will. No matter what evidence you present them, they always have recourse to the claim that “well, thats how god designed it”. Whether it is fossils in the ground, the homology of DNA sequences, or life on other planets. To paraphrase a famous quote (whose provenance I forget): You cant rationally argue someone out of a position that they did not arrive at rationally.
Tano,
True, but it is fun watching Bithead and others get worked up over it.
And I’m not opposed to a belief in God or a Creator in general. If somebody wants to believe in it, fine by me. I don’t think science answers that question. At the same time I think some, maybe most (?), religious people are reasonable people, so explaining things to them could help.
You cant rationally argue someone out of a position that they did not arrive at rationally.
I’ve never seen that put quite so neatly — thanx, Tano.
Dudes why, So what was the planet like Steve, and Tano what evidence do you have that is not fabricated out of pure theory and speculation, once again all the the prof that you Monkeyworhsipers have can in no way be proved, you guys are a hoot. Oh and and Anderson what rational about the religion of death(evolutionism) created by Lucifer in the garden of Eden(when he convinced Adam and Eve that they could become like God) and who’s greatest advocate was Adolf Hitler, another evolutionist/socialist, and I hate to bust your great blue hell of a bubble but your boy Darwin’s theory was based on pure racism.
From the Dilbert Blog
“Infotainment questions for the day:
1. Do we have the technology to seed that planet with life?
2. How do we know the Gliese 581 Csians didn’t seed life on Earth?
It seems to me that we now have a falsifiable hypothesis for Intelligent Design on Earth. My hypothesis is that it came from Gliese 581 C. I call that science. We should teach it in schools.
Go.”
I was hoping this post could be a discussion of facts or at least discussion of life on other planets but once again it digress to discussion of personal believes.
Wayne believing that Star trek is real is a personal belief, and I say there is no way at all to ever find out if a planet that is 20+ light years away is prof of any thing, not that it would not be cool or that it disproves God which it most certainly would not because he created everything, an everything that we know is only about what he wants us to know about it, further more their theory and or guesses are mostly science fiction like the universe has an end or that they can some how count the stars,Example: you can hold one grain of sand up to the sky and behind that area is 15,000 galaxies, and behind that area, and behind that area, and behind that area and so on and so on. What I’m trying to say is that the universe is infinite, and so is our God, and so is man’s pride and stupidity.
Thanks for proving Tano’s point G.A.
Or we could just wait 20 or so years for the light to get here from there, and directly observe for ourselves. Or wait for God to create the light immediately in front of us, depending on whether or not you’re an idiot.
Counting is actually pretty easy, most of us learned how to do that before you were 3. But maybe you don’t believe in numbers either.
I believe GAP was stating we do not have an accurate count of the number of stars in the universe only guesses. Some better then others perhaps but guesses no less. I counted five stars during a cloudy night last week. It would be foolish for me to state five stars are all that exist in the universe.
I’m going to stay out of the God parts of these conversations.
Yes most of the astronomical so call facts are in fact theories but to further science one must start somewhere. The universe may be infinite or it may not be. No one knows for sure. Part of it is how someone is using the word infinite. Even infinite can be definable. For example, the surface of a ring is said to go on for infinity since it is round and one can continue on it forever. However the ring is contained within a definable space. Infinity at one time was considered anything above the count of ten, which no longer holds true.
The surface of a ring is not infinite.
One could argue that one could travel in the same direction on the surface of the ring for infinity or that there are an infinite number of points on the ring surface.
I always thought the first one was weak. Although depending on how someone looks at it, I suppose they have a point. It is that darn perspective thing again.