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Earth-like planet seen 40 light-years away
Boston (UPI) Dec 17, 2009 A Harvard astronomer spotted a planet 2.7 times the size of Earth only 40 light-years away in the constellation Ophiuchus, a scientist said. Geoffrey Marcy of the University of California, Berkeley, called the discovery by Harvard's David Charbonneau "extraordinary" because when planet hunters search for life-supporting planets, they usually focus on far-away stars that are large and hot like our solar system's sun. Charbonneau, however, focused on about 2,000 small, dim, red stars called M-dwarfs near Earth, CNN reported Wednesday. "It's a top-of-the-top discovery in the quest for Earth-size planets," said Marcy about the planet that has been named GJ 1214b. Charbonneau said, however, it is too soon to conclude scientists have found the site of potential exosolar planetary life. "What you want (for life) is a nice toasty ocean with a little bit of atmosphere. That's not going to happen here. I think it would be foolish to say categorically that (GJ 1214b) doesn't have life. But we have no basis for thinking it could," Charbonneau said. Share This Article With Planet Earth
Related Links Lands Beyond Beyond - extra solar planets - news and science Life Beyond Earth
First Super-Earths Discovered Around Sun-Like StarsWashington DC (SPX) Dec 16, 2009 Two nearby stars have been found to harbor "super-Earths" - rocky planets larger than the Earth but smaller than ice giants such as Uranus and Neptune. Unlike previously discovered stars with super-Earths, both of the stars are similar to the Sun, suggesting to scientists that low-mass planets may be common around nearby stars. "Over the last 12 years or so nearly 400 planets have been ... read more |
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