Astroboffins poring through data from NASA's Kepler
telescope have spotted what they think might be the most Earth-like planet yet
discovered.
The object has a radius 1.5 times that of Earth, which lumps
it into the class of extrasolar planets known as "super Earths."
That's not so unusual, in and of itself; scientists estimate that about 25 per
cent of known star systems feature similarly sized worlds. What makes this one
special, however, are all of the other ways in which it resembles our own planet.
"This was very exciting because it's our first
habitable-zone super Earth around a sun-type star," NASA astronomer
Natalie Batalha told Space.com.
That is, not only does the suspected planet resemble Earth,
but the star it orbits is also comparable to our own, and the planet is
orbiting it at just the right distance to allow the presence of liquid water,
and therefore – just possibly – life.
Specifically, the planet is orbiting its star at an average
distance of 70 million miles. Earth orbits the Sun at a distance of 93 million
miles, on average, but the newly discovered planet orbits a star that's
slightly cooler than our own.
The new planet also orbits its star at a rate similar to
that of Earth. Its year is 242 days long – slightly longer than Venus's 225-day
year but shorter than our own 365-day one. By comparison, previously discovered
super Earths generally have orbits of 150 days or less.
This latest Earthy object was just one of a batch of 461 new
planet candidates that NASA scientists announced on Monday. Of those, four had
characteristics that could make them "potentially life-bearing," but
only one shared so many traits with Earth.
Mind you, some of this is just conjecture. More work needs
to be done to verify that the object is in fact a planet. Right now, it has
been dubbed only KOI 172.02, for "Kepler Object of Interest."
And even if it is confirmed to be a planet, it's still too early
to know whether it has other characteristics that would allow it to play host
to life similar to that on Earth, such as a rocky surface or an oxygen-rich
atmosphere. Still, researchers are hopeful.
"It's a big deal. It's definitely a good candidate for
life," Mario Livio of the Space Telescope Science Institute in Baltimore
told SPACE.com. "Maybe there's no land life, but perhaps very clever
dolphins.
7 comments:
NASA needs to do their homework...and begin to tell Americans (first) the truth and then the world for the following:
1. No planet has beings on the surface except MOTHER EARTH;
2. Civilizations exist on the inside of all the planets in our galaxy;
3. Planet Earth have been visited by other beings since the 1940's...hence Roswell, etc. and thousands live on the planet now!
If you know anyone that works for NASA, give them this address:
www.hollowearthnetwork.com
If you think that no other planets have beings living on the surface other then ours then you are very ignorant and close minded.....And that has to be the most obsurd statement I have ever heard. Out of never ending universes with infinite planets we are the only one to harbour life on the surface......LMFAO!
I fully agree with Brandon,anyone on this planet that thinks we are unique is without a doubt the most narrow minded, egotistical, subintellect in existence!
There are and have been countless civilizations out there in deep space that are so far advanced from us they make us look like amoeba's next to them. since the 1940's more BS since time unrecorded we have been visited and this civilization is NOT the first one this planet has supported either, there have been a bunch of them here that's why artifacts are being found now that are hightech in nature and can only be explained as having been created by former civilizations. Hollow Earth it seems has a hollow head to boot!ROTFLMFAO real hard!Don Joyner
thats right!
actually, thats the truth what anonymous has said. Earth is the ONLY planet to have surface dwellers. All living planets out there are harboring life on the inside...just as our earth does...Agartha. a.k.a. hollow-earth.
You guys make me laugh. Infinite planets in an infinite number of universes and only ours has life on the surfaced..... again LMFAO. And honestly I have no proof to say otherwise but wheres yours? you are stating that it is a fact that no other planets have life on the surface, I am simply saying I dont believe that for a single second.
Oh and our planet has been visited by aliens long before we even existed on it not just since the 1940's. Seems to me that you need to do your homework....
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