Astronomers are excited over the find of a new planet with the atmospheric conditions similar to the earth's. Having "shirt-sleeve" weather, it's about 120 trillion miles away. The planet circles a star called Gliese 581, and is so close to its version of the sun, that it orbits every 37 days. And it doesn't rotate much, one side is almost always bright, and the other dark. It is unknown whether water actually exists on the planet, but astronomers say the conditions here are ideal for liquid water, which in turn means it could very easily harbor life of some kind.
Thursday, September 30, 2010
Can Life Exist Elsewhere?
Astronomers are excited over the find of a new planet with the atmospheric conditions similar to the earth's. Having "shirt-sleeve" weather, it's about 120 trillion miles away. The planet circles a star called Gliese 581, and is so close to its version of the sun, that it orbits every 37 days. And it doesn't rotate much, one side is almost always bright, and the other dark. It is unknown whether water actually exists on the planet, but astronomers say the conditions here are ideal for liquid water, which in turn means it could very easily harbor life of some kind.
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