"EARTH-LIKE" PLANET DISCOVERED.

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http://sfgate.com/c/pictures/2007/04/25/mn_planet_wx102.jpg

Illustration from the European Southern Observatory

NEWLY FOUND PLANET COULD SUPPORT LIFE
It lies in the constellation Libra, about 20.5 light-years away

David Perlman, Chronicle Science Editor

Wednesday, April 25, 2007

A rocky planet not much larger than Earth has been detected orbiting a star close to our own neighborhood in the Milky Way, and the European astronomers who found it say it lies within the star's "habitable zone," where life could exist -- possibly in oceans of water.

The object is the smallest of all the 200 or more so-called exoplanets whose discovery around far-off stars in the past dozen years has sparked a burst of excitement worldwide among astronomers and astrobiologists.

Source at the San Francisco Chronicle

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Speculation from The Economist (UK)

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We must send an envoy there immediately..... with Bibles..... and oil drilling rigs....

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Hey, Mr. Spaceman
Won't you please take me along
I won't do anything wrong
Hey, Mr. Spaceman
Won't you please take me along for a ride

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Bi-Polar Bear wrote:

We must send an envoy there immediately..... with Bibles..... and oil drilling rigs....

Those two should be banned from this new world ... along with lawyers, politicians, insurance companies, and Matt Lauer.

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Quote:

The object is the smallest of all the 200 or more so-called exoplanets whose discovery around far-off stars in the past dozen years has sparked a burst of excitement worldwide among astronomers and astrobiologists.

It's nice that we found it, but there is likely nothing unique about this planet. The fact is that there are probably TONS of small (Earth sized) rocky planets close to their stars that could support water. Any planet that is close to its star is going to be small and rocky because the volatiles are heated and turned into an atmosphere. It's just difficult to SPOT these planets because they use the Doppler shift method that relies on measuring a periodic change in the shift of the star being orbitted. Obviously smaller planets cause less wobble on their stars, and additionally the effect of several planets can cancel out the wobble of the others.

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Cool! Once we use up this planet, we now have another to move onto and ruin!

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Bella Dea wrote:

Cool! Once we use up this planet, we now have another to move onto and ruin!

It's grow or bust for humanity Bella. Biology 101.

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Eorl wrote:

Bella Dea wrote:
Cool! Once we use up this planet, we now have another to move onto and ruin!

It's grow or bust for humanity Bella. Biology 101.

"EARTH-LIKE" PLANET DISCOVERED.

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