http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/6589157.stm
Could this even be a place that we, as a race, have to move to when the Sun packs up in however many million years time?
My thoughts:
Unless we find some other planets closer to the Earth that could support life, I think this will be the place that we have to "emigrate to" (haha, a new word is needed). Also, the universe is too big for us to be the only species living in it if you ask me.
So, do we think that there is life out there, and could this new found planet have beings looking down on our planet maybe?BBC wrote:
Astronomers have found the most Earth-like planet outside our Solar System to date, a world which could have water running on its surface.
The planet orbits the faint star Gliese 581, which is 20.5 light-years away in the constellation Libra.
Scientists made the discovery using the Eso 3.6m Telescope in Chile.
They say the benign temperatures on the planet mean any water there could exist in liquid form, and this raises the chances it could also harbour life.
"We have estimated that the mean temperature of this 'super-Earth' lies between 0 and 40 degrees Celsius, and water would thus be liquid," explained Stephane Udry of the Geneva Observatory, lead author of the scientific paper reporting the result.
Alison Boyle
London Science Museum
"Moreover, its radius should be only 1.5 times the Earth's radius, and models predict that the planet should be either rocky - like our Earth - or covered with oceans."
Xavier Delfosse, a member of the team from Grenoble University, added: "Liquid water is critical to life as we know it."
(And a lot more info is available on the bbc link at the top)
Could this even be a place that we, as a race, have to move to when the Sun packs up in however many million years time?
My thoughts:
Unless we find some other planets closer to the Earth that could support life, I think this will be the place that we have to "emigrate to" (haha, a new word is needed). Also, the universe is too big for us to be the only species living in it if you ask me.