Astronomers have discovered a habitable Earth-like planet 20+ light years away! – Gliese 581g

The big ‘news being’ that our technology has/can finally detect life on other worlds; because if you’re amazed that life is possible beyond the stars then you must not look up at them often enough – Of course there’s life beyond Earth!

If micro organisms are capable of surviving billions of miles below the ocean in boiling sulphur then the probability of atmospheric conditions on other worlds throughout the universe bearing life is a 100% certainty… bitch

The planet, found by astronomers at the University of California, Santa Cruz, and the Carnegie Institution of Washington, is orbiting in the middle of the “habitable zone” of the red dwarf star Gliese 581, which means it could have water on its surface.

Liquid water and an atmosphere are necessary for a planet to possibly sustain life, even it might not be a great place to live, the scientists said.

The scientists determined that the planet, which they have called Gliese 581g, has a mass three to four times that of Earth and an orbital period of just under 37 days.

Its mass indicates that it is probably a rocky planet and has enough gravity to hold on to an atmosphere, according to Steven Vogt, professor of astronomy and astrophysics at the University of California, Santa Cruz, and one of the leaders of the team that discovered the planet.

Awe-some …But, would it have broadband?

Unlike Earth, this planet called Gliese 581g, is “tidally locked” to its star. That means one side of the planet always faces the sun, and the other faces darkness. Temperatures on the two sides would be dramatically different, with the livable area in the “terminator” between day and night.

“Our findings offer a very compelling case for a potentially habitable planet,” said Steven Vogt (professor of astronomy and astrophysics at the University of California) “The fact that we were able to detect this planet so quickly and so nearby tells us that planets like this must be really common.”

That’s amazing and all but what we all really want are JetPacks NASA!