4/25/07
Fantastic news from the world of astronomy, dear readers. Wait! Wait! Don’t close this blog yet; I promise it’s interesting. Scientists have discovered what could be the first earth-like planet to contain liquid water outside our solar system. It’s in the constellation Libra and circles a red dwarf star horrendously-named Gliese 581, and currently has the disappointingly awful moniker “Gliese 581 C.” The planet appears to be rocky like ours and boasts mild temperatures ranging from 32-104˚F. These conditions hold the possibility of liquid water; ergo, life, ladies and gentlemen.
“We can only say that we have the temperature to permit the development of life,” says Michael Mayor from the University of Geneva. “I would say it's one very interesting step in a long process going in the direction to having some major discovery related to life in the universe."
Gliese 581 is pretty close to us in astrological terms, a mere 20.4 light years away. Which…is actually about 117 trillion miles. Researchers are able to detect planets around distant stars by the wobble their gravity creates as they revolve around their respective stars. Most of the more than 100 planets discovered so far are huge gas giants like Jupiter, since their huge gravity creates a more noticeable wobble on their star.
Planet Gliese 581 C is relatively small, about 1.5 times the size of Earth, and orbits very close its sun, making its year only about 13 earth days long. But since Gliese 581 is a red dwarf, and much dimmer and cooler than our sun, the planet has very mild temperatures. The environment would be a bit different, however, since the sun in the sky of the planet would look about 5 times larger than our sun, and have a reddish, rusty appearance almost like the surface of Mars. You would weigh a fair amount more there, though, because despite being only about 50% larger than Earth it has 5 times more mass.
This earth-like hunk of rock out there is far and away the best chance so far for finding extraterrestrial life. There are is another planets in orbit around Gliese 581; a Neptune-sized bugger about 15 times the mass of our little home world (Gliese 581 B) and possibly a third 8 times the mass of Earth (Gliese 581 D).
So tentative good news for the Conservatives out there with their eyes closed and their fingers in their ears; we have a possible candidate for colonization after this one craps out and tries desperately to kill us from global warming.
Sources:
NPR – Earth-like Planet Discovered in Libra
Earth & Sky – Astronomers find first habitable earth-like planet
Fantastic news from the world of astronomy, dear readers. Wait! Wait! Don’t close this blog yet; I promise it’s interesting. Scientists have discovered what could be the first earth-like planet to contain liquid water outside our solar system. It’s in the constellation Libra and circles a red dwarf star horrendously-named Gliese 581, and currently has the disappointingly awful moniker “Gliese 581 C.” The planet appears to be rocky like ours and boasts mild temperatures ranging from 32-104˚F. These conditions hold the possibility of liquid water; ergo, life, ladies and gentlemen.“We can only say that we have the temperature to permit the development of life,” says Michael Mayor from the University of Geneva. “I would say it's one very interesting step in a long process going in the direction to having some major discovery related to life in the universe."
Gliese 581 is pretty close to us in astrological terms, a mere 20.4 light years away. Which…is actually about 117 trillion miles. Researchers are able to detect planets around distant stars by the wobble their gravity creates as they revolve around their respective stars. Most of the more than 100 planets discovered so far are huge gas giants like Jupiter, since their huge gravity creates a more noticeable wobble on their star.
Planet Gliese 581 C is relatively small, about 1.5 times the size of Earth, and orbits very close its sun, making its year only about 13 earth days long. But since Gliese 581 is a red dwarf, and much dimmer and cooler than our sun, the planet has very mild temperatures. The environment would be a bit different, however, since the sun in the sky of the planet would look about 5 times larger than our sun, and have a reddish, rusty appearance almost like the surface of Mars. You would weigh a fair amount more there, though, because despite being only about 50% larger than Earth it has 5 times more mass.This earth-like hunk of rock out there is far and away the best chance so far for finding extraterrestrial life. There are is another planets in orbit around Gliese 581; a Neptune-sized bugger about 15 times the mass of our little home world (Gliese 581 B) and possibly a third 8 times the mass of Earth (Gliese 581 D).
So tentative good news for the Conservatives out there with their eyes closed and their fingers in their ears; we have a possible candidate for colonization after this one craps out and tries desperately to kill us from global warming.
Sources:
NPR – Earth-like Planet Discovered in Libra
Earth & Sky – Astronomers find first habitable earth-like planet
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