why are we the only planet in such a huge galaxy to support life?

Question

You hear about possible findings light years away but what about our own galaxy?

Answer 1

Our galaxy is 100,000 light years in diameter. The stars where planets are being found are only 10 to 100 light years away so are our neighbors. Our technology isn't advanced enough, yet, to really look for life. It soon will be... check back in 10 years.

Answer 2

Let's wait and see as to what they find on the moons of Jupiter (probably nothing though). You know there are more moons around Jupiter than planets in our solar system? If they don't find anything I would say our planet give the distance from the sun makes the right conditions to sustain life.

Do you know that these planets that are farther out, like Jupiter, can help protect the Earth somewhat from asteroids and other debris that come into our solar system? Although this can back fire debris and such that come into our solar system have a chance of getting caught in the gravitational pull of the other planets. It will either stay in the orbit of that planet or get sling shotted in any number of directions. (Yes, it is possible to hit Earth, but Earth is one small target compared to the rest of the galaxy).

Answer 3

Ummm, the other end of the galaxy is light years away. We do not know definitively for a fact that ours is the only planet to support life in this or any other galaxy.

We've only begun to see surface pictures of planets in our own solar system in the last 30 years--let alone other planets in the Milky Way or other "local" galaxies. It seems premature to assume that we're the only life-supporting planet.

These findings are based on current theories and based upon our knowledge of what life is and the atmospheres that can support it. Many of these findings come from our own galaxies and some from galaxies far away.

Space discovery is in its infancy. I wouldn't be ready to definitively conclude where life is and isn't in this vast universe.

Keep gazing skyward!

Answer 4

We don't know that. It's quite possible that we are living in a Star Trek kind of community, with life all around us; we just doesn't realize it. It's also quite possible that we are alone.

The problem is that we are not all that technologically advanced. With the nearest star outside of our solar system being 4.3 light-years away, we just don't have the technology to detect and isolate planets that far away. The truth is that the only way we know that these stars may have planets is because of the "wiggle" the star shows when observed for long periods; this "wiggle" comes from the planet's gravitational pull on the star.

We can only speculate if a possible planet may have life; but, the only way to truly know is to go there (which is not possible at our current level of evolution) or receive a communique from them (which would be hard since we are talking light-years here, but is better than nothing). This leave speculations of if Earth-like planets exist out there and dreams of what may be on their surface.

Answer 5

All the other stars in our galaxy ARE light years away. Since we have not begun yet to explore the galaxy properly, it's foolish to say that Earth is the only planet in it with life. We just haven't found other life yet, which is not to say it's not out there. The new space telescope being built should be able to find the signatures of life on other planets, and then we'll know.

Answer 6

Who says there aren't others? Just because we don't know about them, doesn't mean they aren't there. The Milky way is 100,000 light years across. The Window of opportunity for two civilizations to communicate across such huge distances is very small. If we wanted to send a message to a planet on the other side of the galaxy it would take 100,000 years to get there and another 100,000 years to get back. So that means 100,000 years from now that civilization must possess the technology needed to send and receive radio waves into/from space. We have only had the capability to send radio waves into space for about 80 years, a Small fracton of our existence as a species. Furthermore, we must still be around in 200,000 years to listen for a response.

I believe there is other life in our galaxy, and intelligent life at that. But i think its unlikely that we will ever be able to communicate with them.

Answer 7

We have, in fact, no knowledge that that is the case. There are lots of other planets; more are being discovered every day. But there is at present no way to tell whether any of these have life or not. A difficulty is that we have no idea how life started on this planet; if the process is inherently improbable, we could be unique for that reason alone.

Answer 8

There has to be life on other planets in our galaxy. If the creator put life on Earth only in this vast galaxy that would be the ultimate case of overkill don't you think? Because of the distances involved it is sure that the creator did not mean for us to interact with other inhabited planets.

Answer 9

possible findings light years away are in our galaxy. the milky way galaxy is roughly disc shaped and about 100,000 ly in diameter. the solar system is only about 0.0001 ly in diameter. we cannot even be sure yet that there is no life on other planets in the solar system. it's very difficult to see planets around other stars. only about 200 have been found but there are likely to be billions of them in the galaxy.

Answer 10

Our planet supports earth life, but maybe another planet in our galaxy would support another kind of life. The astronomers are looking for earth-like planets when they look for life, I guess, because they don't know what else to look for. There might be other types of planets with different types of life that we couldn't recognize as life.