Another planet just like earth???

Question

I know this may sound kinda weird but for some reason every1 in my school is talking something about the fact that scientists discovered another planet just like earth which has water and the perfect temperature and its 11/2 times the diameter of earth and it rotates around a star called Gliese 581. And its 20 light years away from earth. Is this possible? And if so do u think there is life on it and that humans might land on it someday?

Answer 1

The one they're talking about has been getting a lot of hype in the non-scientific community because of an unfortunate phrase used in the initial press release ("the first terrestrial extra-solar planet found", which simply means its not a gas giant planet like the others that have been found so far).
Gliese 581 c is the first extrasolar planet believed to possibly have a surface temperature similar to Earth (at least in some areas).

Gliese 581C is 5 times Earth's mass, 2 times Earth's diameter, and orbits a red dwarf star once every 12 days (Earth takes 365 days to orbit our sun once).
Since it orbits so close to its star it is likely tidally locked, meaning it always shows one face to its star. So no night and day cycle.
Since the star is a relatively cool red dwarf, water could exist on the planet in liquid form - though most likely only in the terminator zone (the area at the edge of the day/night side).

I don't think I'd want to live there. But there could be life there of some kind (there could be life on Mars and Europa as well). But we'd have to go there to find out.

At 20.4 light years away, it would take decades to get there (if we could even do it - that's a long time and a long way to travel with today's technology).
Perhaps in 50 years we will have the technology to do it (but only if NASA is given the funding it needs for research and development, which is not a certainty).

Answer 2

There is no other planet like Earth.

According to MSNBC, the newly discovered planet is about 50% bigger than Earth and about 5 times more massive. Gliese 581 could be a key target for future space missions revolving around the search for extraterrestrial life.

But we're a one-of-a-kind. This is just one of the best finds yet. There is likely to be some form of life there. Now we just have to sit back and wait for the secrets of Gliese 581 to reveal themselves.

Answer 3

It is true that scientists and astronomers have discovered another planet that has water on it which is one of the key ingredients for a planet to have some form of life to exist on it. However, this particular planet is not going to be the one that does the trick, so to speak. As best we can tell, the temperature on the newly discovered planet is something like 1100 degrees F. So it is much to hot to serve as our next place to drop in on while we are traveling around in the Universe.

Next on the list of questions was the note about the planet's location some 20 Light Years away from us. While I think the
number was more like 45 Light Years, either one of those distances is far to distant for us to make any significant trips there anywhere in the near future.

Mars, a nearby planet inside of our Solar System orbits the Sun just as the Earth does. At its closest passing point, Mars and the Earth are about 48 Million Miles apart. Planners for the Mars Mission in 2010 expect that the flight to Mars will take 7 months. check that...7 Months for 48 Million Miles.
So, given that, how long for 20 to 45 Light Years? Maybe in the thousands of years...right? So, none of us will go there, and be alive to tell about it. None of the folks on the ground back on Earth will be alive to find out what happened to that crazy space crew, either. They will have died of natural causes long ago. If you wish to learn more about Exoplanets, check out the neat web site produced by Cornell University. You can get over onto it by doing an Internet Search using
the key words:

curious about astronomy

that will lead you to Cornell's Web Site. When I try to type the link in this block, it gets stripped of certain characters and
the full link does not get reprinted on the page. Anyhow...I
hope you go there and look at it for further information on your Exoplanets.

Regards,
Zah

Answer 4

Of all the exoplanets discovered, this one was most like Earth. At least, it was when the media was interesting in publishing such finds.

Gliese 581c is noticeable because it is one the the smallest planets found (is is hard to discover anything but giant worlds), is rocky, orbits the habitable zone of its star and is, astronomically speaking, very close.

However, it is still very different from Earth, and there is nothing to say that life exists there or not.

Answer 5

With so many star systems in just our galaxy it is possible that several solar system's will have earth like planets . The problem is we have been told for so long we are alone that people can't grasp the idea of other planets that are able to have life on them . When prehistoric fish start to show up in fishing nets it is time to rethink the way we where taught to think.

Answer 6

There is no planet EXACTLY like Earth, but there is bound to be many Earthlike planets in the universe. We cant go there right now its just too expensive and the trip there with current technology would take several years. But eventually someone will come up with a revolutionary idea that will make such a trip feasable.

Answer 7

that's not in basic terms a risk, it truly is inevitable. all of us know there are planets available we basically don´t know yet if there are any livable planets or planets that could desire to be made livable. it is going to take many years to locate a candidate international. Then the call would be made. could we bypass? as a results of fact by potential of then we are in a position to have the technologies for lightspeed holiday. I take it to you that the technologies already exists. some "infrastructure" is needed in spite of the shown fact that. So the gap isn't probably an argument. You deliver robot workers that initiate installation shop, construction habitats and the infrastructure. Robots don´t care if the journey takes a century in sub easy velocity. yet will people dare to bypass? as a results of fact in spite of the reality that they gained't journey time it is going to nonetheless take years, many years and in line with threat even centuries to attain the holiday spot. easily everyone you have ever commonly used returned in the international could be ineffective. Now you face an entire new international with thoroughly distinctive dwelling situations and hazards. could desire to the human psyche take this way of project?

Answer 8

er..................................
i think t wouldve been more worldlier by now...i think.........................it can be possible, but no chance its JUST like earth due to reasons i cant explain..