Astronomers discover potentially habitable super-Earth
Astronomers discover potentially habitable super-Earth
An artist's impression of the newly found GJ 667Cc and the three stars
Sat Feb 4, 2012 5:42PM
This planet is the new best candidate to support liquid water and, perhaps, life as we know it.
Co-discoverer Guillem Anglada-Escude
Astronomers have discovered a potentially habitable super-Earth planet orbiting a nearby star, making it one of the best candidates to support life.
The newly found planet, called GJ 667Cc, has a mass 4.5 times that of Earth and orbits its host star every 28 days.
The research team used public data from the European Southern Observatory and analyzed it with great precision.
The star, GJ 667C, is a member of a triple star system and is different from our Sun as it lacks in metallic elements.
GJ 667C is a red dwarf and is located in the constellation Scorpio about 22 light years away from Earth.
The super-Earth planet receives 90% of the light that our planet receives but the planet is expected to absorb about the same amount of energy that Earth absorbs as more of the star's light is infrared.
The level of energy and light absorption makes it possible for the planet to have liquid water and more balanced surface temperature.
"This planet is the new best candidate to support liquid water and, perhaps, life as we know it," said co-discoverer Guillem Anglada-Escude.
"If it has an atmosphere, it's probably reddish all the time, because the star is really red," Anglada-Escude added.
The team notes that the system might also contain a gas-giant planet and an additional super-Earth.
A detailed description of the new super-Earth will be published in an upcoming issue of the Astrophysical Journal Letters.
Comment
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Comment by TommyD on February 6, 2012 at 1:08am
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If this orb is habitable, I am sure another species done beat us to it....maybe we will try and put them on reservations too.
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I agree with your assessment of BSG (the latest). I read something along those lines about the original BSG but I was like 10 when it aired and didn't know anything about it...
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Comment by Marklar on February 5, 2012 at 11:37pm
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BSG (the most recent incarnation obviously) was the baddest thing to ever hit TV IMO. Interestingly I once read a website that asserted that the BSG series (the original) was loosely based upon the Mormon diaspora and they made a lot of interesting connections.
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Comment by TheLasersShadow on February 5, 2012 at 1:37pm
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Just need to hobble together an FTL propulsion system now and we're set... Assuming they're right and that may not be the case.
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@ Marklar LOL....I take it you are familiar with BSG
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It's all Jimmy Hendix's fault
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what was it they kept saying on Battlestar Galactica??? This has happened before, it will happen again
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Comment by Maria De Wind on February 5, 2012 at 12:30am
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Lol.
Just wait till we are told how many d@#nd moons it has
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Comment by J-RoQ on February 5, 2012 at 12:25am
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Just an observation but we have done such a terrible job at being the care taker of our own planet I wonder what kind of job we would do if we had two? I also wonder if we could land a second chance on a new planet would we just repeat the same mistakes, something to consider. J-RoQ
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Comment by Cryptocurrency on February 5, 2012 at 12:15am
"Destroying the New World Order"
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