Possible Earth-like planet discovered

Houston Comical (AP) ^ | June 13, 2005, 2:14PM

[scott7278]

That's earth like?

Relatively speaking, I guess.

[The_Victor]

I just can't believe that orbital period. It would have to be so close to the star that friction would quckly bring it down.

This is a significant factor in the orbital period:

Gliese 876 is a small, red star with about one-third the mass of the sun.

[Husker8877]

Sheila Jackson-Lee (D-Mars) will be green with envy (greener).

[BenLurkin]

"They estimated the surface temperature on the new planet at between 400 degrees and 750 degrees Fahrenheit"

[Tallguy]

Yeah, but the question is who will the enviro-whacko's blame this case of Global Warming on?

[GulliverSwift]

The planet is inhabited by nerdlings.

[cripplecreek]

I'm curious if the gravity of a planet is affected by it's density. I know our gas giants aren't very dense yet they have extremely strong gravitational fields. Or is mass more of a factor than density?

[waverna]

Hope not, that whole death penalty thing and all. We could be executed for just responding to this thread!

[El Gato]

Is it Talos IV?????

No, probably Gliese 876 I, unless there's another planet closer in to it's sun.

Posting from Sol III.

[waverna]

Hot as Vulcan!

[The_Victor]

Gravitational pull is purely a function of mass and distance.

[Brett66]

It's a terrestrial planet, but it sure ain't earthlike.

[Junior]

I'm curious if the gravity of a planet is affected by it's density.

Gravity's affected by the planet's mass. Density is the mass per unit of volume, so they are related. Remember, Saturn has a density of less than 1 (the density of water) while Earth's density is 5 and some change. However, Saturn has a higher "surface" gravity than Earth because it is so much bigger.

[cripplecreek]

So a rocky planet the size of Jupiter would have the same gravitational pull as a gas giant like Jupiter?

[Junior]

No. A rocky world that size (an impossibility) would be more massive than a gas giant and have a higher surface gravity.

[in hoc signo vinces]

From the only good line in Riddick...."If I owned this place and Hell...I'd live in hell, and rent this place out."

[The_Victor]

So a rocky planet the size of Jupiter would have the same gravitational pull as a gas giant like Jupiter?

No. A rocky planet would have much greater mass that a gas planet of the same size.

[El Gato]

I'm curious if the gravity of a planet is affected by it's density. I know our gas giants aren't very dense yet they have extremely strong gravitational fields. Or is mass more of a factor than density?

The gravity field is dependent only on the mass. However the surface gravity is dependent on both the mass and the radius of the planet. The less dense planet will have a larger radius, by the cube root of the density ratio. It's surface gravity will be lower by the square of the cube root of the density ratio.

[Squawk 8888]

Doesn't sound very "Earth-like" to me.

By their standards it's almost a carbon copy. If it's solid, has an atmosphere and isn't hot enough to melt most metals it's pretty close. I blame bad reporting for the impressing they convey, because to a layman "earth like" means survivable without a spacesuit and the closest thing we have to that is Mars.

[brownsfan]

Gravity is directly proportional to mass. Density has nothing to do with the equation. Gas giants have high gravity because even though they aren't dense, there's a lot of mass involved.