Jump to content

Banner.jpg.b83b14cd4142fe10848741bb2a14c66b.jpg

earth like planet found???

starstalker

By starstalker
in The Astro Lounge

Recommended Posts

  • Replies 25
  • Created
  • Last Reply
steveangel

steveangel

Posted
Posted

Great find (both the article and the planet) lol

I know theres a great debate about life on other planets, but surely knowing our place in the Universe is so insignificant, it is extremly ignorant to believe that other intelligent life could only develop on a planet similar to Earth?!

Sorry if ive opened a can of worms

Steve

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Steve922

Steve922

Posted
Posted
...it is extremly ignorant to believe that other intelligent life could only develop on a planet similar to Earth?...

When people speak of 'intelligent life' it appears they mean life similar to that which we are aware of here on earth. You need some kind of definition of life before you can speculate about it. So if we assume 'intelligent life' means things that are similar to us then the natural assumption is that it would need conditions something like what we could tolerate - liquid water and all that.

If you'd care to define 'intelligent life' in any other way then we can look for types of environment which would be tolerated by things fitting that definition.

Steve

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Steve922

Steve922

Posted
Posted

Indeed, and this is the sixth planet found around this particular star - suggesting not only lots of planets around but also Solar Sytems with as many or more planets than our own.

I think we can expect a rush of new planets of this size and type (and habitibility) as the reults from the Kepler mission are collated and analysed.

Steve

Link to comment
Share on other sites
vlebo

vlebo

Posted
Posted

I think when you consider how difficult it must be for any organism to take a foothold and begin to evolve on any planet with so many odds stacked against it and to survive for any amount of million years is , in my book , already " intelligent life ".

Vlebo

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Shibby

Shibby

Posted
Posted

Fantastic. I've been following the updates on "Gliese 581 d" (potentially habitable) for some time now, and suddenly they find another that is definitely habitable around the same system! :icon_salut: PlanetQuest's planet counts need updating!

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Omega

Omega

Posted
Posted
it is extremly ignorant to believe that other intelligent life could only develop on a planet similar to Earth?!

Sorry if ive opened a can of worms

Steve

Couldn't agree more. I'm far from an expert in astrobiology but we're talking of potentially billions of years of evolution and time to adapt to any given conditions. Is it not just as likely that life could exist on exoplanet disimilar to our own?

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Shibby

Shibby

Posted
Posted

Yes, it's quite possible that life could be non carbon-based and not reliant on liquid water, but this is the only sort we know how to look for. So obviously, this is the best type to look for - life as we know it.

Soon there will be telescopes up and running that will be able to directly image these exoplanets and look for signatures of life.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Thomas

Thomas

Posted
Posted

No, orbital velocity would have no effect on any tides that this planet's oceans (should they exist) may experience. Furthermore, if the planet is in captured rotation, and has no significant satellite, then it will have no tides.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
mark7331

mark7331

Posted
Posted

It is an interesting find but, as has been said, it's the latest in a string of planets of smaller, nearer earth, mass and within the 'goldielocks' zone but, unlike earth which has an average ambient temperature of about -12oC (before the greenhouse effect so 15oC to you and me) this chap is at about -50oC. Kinda chilly if you're comparing. Not too far out though.

Also this planet does not transit in front of the star so we can't tell what it's temperature will be as we can't "see" through it's atmosphere.

But it's fantastic news that we can spot an earth x3 mass planet!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

Go to topic listing

  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

We have placed cookies on your device to help make this website better. You can adjust your cookie settings, otherwise we'll assume you're okay to continue. By using this site, you agree to our Terms of Use.