New 'super-Earth' found in space [planet found]

BBC News ^ | Wednesday, 25 April 2007 | BBC News

[FostersExport]

Astronomers have found the most Earth-like planet outside our Solar System to date, a world which could have water running on its surface. The planet orbits the faint star Gliese 581, which is 20.5 light-years away in the constellation Libra.

Scientists made the discovery using the Eso 3.6m Telescope in Chile.

They say the benign temperatures on the planet mean any water there could exist in liquid form, and this raises the chances it could also harbour life.

"We have estimated that the mean temperature of this 'super-Earth' lies between 0 and 40 degrees Celsius, and water would thus be liquid," explained Stephane Udry of the Geneva Observatory, lead author of the scientific paper reporting the result.

"Moreover, its radius should be only 1.5 times the Earth's radius, and models predict that the planet should be either rocky - like our Earth - or covered with oceans."

Xavier Delfosse, a member of the team from Grenoble University, added: "Liquid water is critical to life as we know it."

[thedilg]

Sorry to keep on asking these questions, but in the Jupiter scenario, why is Earth’s density 5.5 and not 1?

Density is based on the weight of water, about 62 pounds per cubic foot. A cubic foot of rocky earth is 5.5 times as heavy as an equal volume of water. You can check this out. Drop a rock in a bucket of water. If it sinks it is heavier than water.

Godspeed, The Dilg

[FDNYRHEROES]

So, if we are able to send some sort of biological material there to create life there, would that be considered “Intelligent Design”?

[Oztrich Boy]

According to one of the sources (either in the related threads or another new source—have looked at a fair amount so far), the planet would be subjected to tidal forces from its primary (its star).

That close to its primary it's going to be gravitationaly locked and not turning with respest to the primary. The force will be there but it'll be constant and won't affect anything

[SunkenCiv]

First habitable Earth like planet outside Solar System discovered
Zeenews.com | April 24, 2007
Posted on 04/24/2007 4:41:01 PM EDT by Sopater
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1822835/posts

New Planet Discovered
[http://space.newscientist.com/]
Posted on 04/24/2007 7:35:42 PM EDT by chessplayer
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1822931/posts

Potentially habitable planet found
Yahoo News | April 24, 2007 | By SETH BORENSTEIN, AP Science Writer
Posted on 04/24/2007 8:50:02 PM EDT by frithguild
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1822980/posts

The most Earth-like planet yet
news@nature.com | 25 April 2007 | Katharine Sanderson
Posted on 04/26/2007 2:49:17 AM EDT by neverdem
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/1823740/posts

[SunkenCiv]

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[Centurion2000]

It is much too soon to know if the planet is earthlike.

Well, it's also the FIRST terrestrial planet found inside the life zone of another star. That's big news.

[Centurion2000]

According to one of the sources (either in the related threads or another new source—have looked at a fair amount so far), the planet would be subjected to tidal forces from its primary (its star). Earth also is subjected to tidal forces from the Sun, but the tidal forces from the Moon have more effect as the Moon is closer to Earth than the Sun. In contrast, Gliese 581 c is much closer to its sun than Earth is to the Sun.

They are saying that the sun would be about 20 times wider than a full moon when viewed from the surface of the planet.

[SunkenCiv]

Surprise during the Search for a Second Earth [ Gliese 581 ]
Informationsdienst Wissenschaft | Monday, June 11, 2007 | Uta Pohlmann
Posted on 06/11/2007 2:20:35 PM EDT by SunkenCiv
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/chat/1848433/posts

[Army Air Corps]

Ours is a spiffy little planet, but it is just the cradle for our species and we cannot stay in the cradle forever. Also, it is a damn tiny planet and humanity could use some extra elbow room. We can start with colonisation of nearby bodies and, when technology allows, head out of our solar system.