Posted on 02/15/2009 10:40:53 AM PST by KevinDavis
A planet similar to Earth could be discovered in a distant solar system within three years, according to a leading astronomer.
Planets that support life forms could be common in the universe, and about 100bn of them may exist in our own galaxy, said Dr Alan Boss, a researcher at the Carnegie Institute for Science in Washington.
He told a meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science in Chicago yesterday that, according to his calculations, there is roughly one Earth-like planet for every star that is similar to our own sun.
The US space agency, Nasa, is due to launch a space telescope, called Kepler, dedicated to searching for planets that are similar to, or smaller than Earth. It will join the European Space Agency's Corot telescope, which spotted a large "super Earth" earlier this month.
(Excerpt) Read more at guardian.co.uk ...
“Earth-like planet could be discovered within three years...”
... or it might not be.
I’m thinking around 2015 - 2020 we will find one..
I like the Alpha centauri model as a good place to find a truly earthlike planet.
Awesome, It’ll coincide with me being able to take my flying car to leave the dying planet and it’s meltdown from global warming...
good, maybe we can move there and make a more conservative lifestyle the dems can have this polluted mess of a planet they’ve created.
Let’s get there before the libs do! : )
I agree...
According to most astronomers, at least, real astronomers, there are only around 100 billion total stars in the Milky Way galaxy to start with - and not all of them are second-rate yellow stars, like our sun.
So there cannot be anywhere near 100 billion planets, much less Earth-like planets, in this galaxy!
We can offer an attractive yield.
The Milky Way galaxy contains far too many nuts (Snickers)
The estimated number of stars in our galaxy was recently increased about ten fold.
The odds of life are not just dependent on size and location but also on chemical composition and whether the planet can maintain a magnetic field and stable orbit and rotation. Both Mars and Venus are “Earth-like” yet have no life.
No nuts in Milky Way...they’ve all been imprisoned here on Earth.
Sounds good, well let’s see...We should be launching Tarp 8 or even 9 by then so it will be tricky, but manageable. Perhaps we could float some bonds through the esteemed Bank of Elbonia?
Also location, location, and location.
Will it have Global Warming? If not, it's not the same.
But Earth is the only source of chocolate in the Universe.
Calling Planet Htrae - come in please...we’ve been invaded by whackjobs!
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