Found: first rocky exoplanet that could host life

TipTop · 30 Sep 2010 at 12:20

Astronomers have found the first alien world that could support life on its surface. It is both at the right distance from its star to potentially harbour liquid water and probably has a rocky composition like Earth.

"That's the most exciting exoplanet I've seen yet," says James Kasting of Pennsylvania State University in University Park, who was not involved in the discovery.

The planet orbits a dim red dwarf star 20 light years from Earth called Gliese 581. Four planets were already known around the star, with two lying near the inner and outer edges of the habitable zone, where liquid water – and therefore potentially life – could exist on its surface.

http://www.newscientist.com/article...exoplanet-that-could-host-life.html?full=true

Hello aliens.

[FnG]magnolia · 30 Sep 2010 at 12:25

"That's the most exciting exoplanet I've seen yet," says James Kasting of Pennsylvania State University in University Park, who was not involved in the discovery.

But ... I wanted him to be involved in the discovery

And also to be, you know, involved in the thing that he's bad mouthing.

I want Teki and majick back. The current crop of lightweight mentalists are no fun anymore

mmj_uk · 30 Sep 2010 at 12:30

How long before we can nuke them? that'll teach them for trespassing at our silos.

fretted · 30 Sep 2010 at 12:34

This is very interesting..although it was only a matter of time

markweatherill · 30 Sep 2010 at 12:35

Injurylawyers4U and Cash4gold are to launch space probes this week on the offchance that there is life on Gliese 581 g.

Blonked · 30 Sep 2010 at 12:36

I don't think anybody should go there until it's known if they have broadband.

TipTop · 30 Sep 2010 at 12:39

fretted said:
This is very interesting..although it was only a matter of time

It's really exciting, because now we know most solar systems could have a planet like ours.

greywolf · 30 Sep 2010 at 12:42

Pretty cool stuff. Just the distances are staggering. Makes you think when it would basically have taken my whole life so far at the speed of light to get there.

redeye_uk · 30 Sep 2010 at 12:42

TipTop said:
It's really exciting, because now we know most solar systems could have a planet like ours.

There is only 1 'solar' system

Fenris · 30 Sep 2010 at 12:45

Just for some perspective, 20 light years is 117,573,371,500,000 miles.

So apart from the scientific discovery and all that malarky this makes next to no difference to anything.

manic_man · 30 Sep 2010 at 12:45

It hardly seems surprising to me.

A key factor to Earth's development is it's proximity to the sun. The entire known Universe is made from the same matter, sure there are probably even elements we haven't yet discovered, but on the whole spectrum analysis can tell us lots about the composition of places we can't even get close to yet.

That matter, left to its own devices over a very long period of time results in phenomena like our solar system. Given the number of stars we know about (and I can only assume that's a tiny fraction of what is actually out there), it is reasonable to assume that a star of similar size to our own, given a similar amount of initial matter surrounding it, will form a similar system, and in turn it seems likely that at least every now and then at least one of the planetary bodies that form will be roughly equivalent to the Earth in size and orbit around its sun.

Lots of variables, but then there are lots of chances out there in the universe to allow the "lottery win" that is the Earth to happen more than once...

antijoke · 30 Sep 2010 at 12:45

I was watching a lady alien last night undress with my telescope.

Deadbeat · 30 Sep 2010 at 12:49

I wish they'd stop putting a blanket "life" claim on these planets, as if Earth-like planets are the only ones that could possibly support any form of life. Life as we know it, yes, but there's nothing to say that any of the millions of other planets can't support any form of life just because they don't mirror the conditions here. That sort of inaccuracy is what fuels creationists' retarded claims that our world is too perfectly placed for life to have evolved for it to be pure coincidence.

Cosimo · 30 Sep 2010 at 12:51

Comparing the Gliese 581 to Our Solar System

The orbits of planets in the Gliese 581 system are compared to those of our own solar system. The Gliese 581 star has about 30% the mass of our sun, and the outermost planet is closer to its star than we are to the sun. The fourth planet, G, is a planet that could sustain life.

Image Credit: National Science Foundation/Zina Deretsky

J.T · 30 Sep 2010 at 12:52

Didn't realise we had lost it in the first place. :/

Substance · 30 Sep 2010 at 12:54

TipTop said:
http://www.newscientist.com/article...exoplanet-that-could-host-life.html?full=true

Astronomers have found the first alien world that could support life on its surface. It is both at the right distance from its star to potentially harbour liquid water and probably has a rocky composition like Earth.

The planet orbits a dim red dwarf star 20 light years from Earth called Gliese 581. Four planets were already known around the star, with two lying near the inner and outer edges of the habitable zone, where liquid water – and therefore potentially life – could exist on its surface.

How is this even an article?

TipTop · 30 Sep 2010 at 12:54

simulatorman said:
Comparing the Gliese 581 to Our Solar System

That's awesome.

antijoke · 30 Sep 2010 at 12:56

Deadbeat said:
I wish they'd stop putting a blanket "life" claim on these planets, as if Earth-like planets are the only ones that could possibly support any form of life. Life as we know it, yes, but there's nothing to say that any of the millions of other planets can't support any form of life just because they don't mirror the conditions here. That sort of inaccuracy is what fuels creationists' retarded claims that our world is too perfectly placed for life to have evolved for it to be pure coincidence.

Surely this is the problem though.

They spend all the time looking for conditions like us that they just discount any planet that isn't like us, thus counting out god knows how many planets which could have life, just different to us.

Fenris · 30 Sep 2010 at 12:58

Deadbeat said:
I wish they'd stop putting a blanket "life" claim on these planets, as if Earth-like planets are the only ones that could possibly support any form of life.

So you would prefer scientists to say "Oh we found a planet, it could support life, we have no evidence for this and it's so close to it's parent star it's surface rock would be permanently liquid and it suffers from constant meteor showers...but what do we know?! There could be magic lava monkeys down there!"

Yeah, far better than creationists.

The reason they discount planets that "could" support life is because we can't prove anything anyway, it's far better to search for planets which have properties like our own because that's all we know, it is ridiculous to assume every planet out there could support life, that is belief and assumption, not science.

Cybermyk · 30 Sep 2010 at 13:27

I say that in order to escape the impending demise of our planet due to the mutant star goat, we construct three large spaceships to head over there. Ark /b/ will consist of hairdressers, tired TV producers, insurance salesmen, personnel officers, security guards, management consultants, telephone sanitisers and the like should be first to launch and the rest of us will follow on later.