Alright! Now we're getting somewhere with all this space exploration. We've found a planet outside our solar system which is guessed to be very much like earth and is quite possibly able to sustain life organisms or maybe even human life all together.
The article:
:
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.
'Is there life anywhere else?' is a fundamental question we all ask
Alison Boyle
London Science Museum
"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."
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The entire article can be found on:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/6589157.stm
Oh and I can't end a post like this without this of course:
If we do find life on that planet, can I be the first to start setting churches on fire?
Havoc