Earth-like planet could be discovered within three years

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.

Plus, even if Jupiter could be ignited, it would still orbit the Sun, so Mars would only get some extra heat when it's near Jupiter. Mars' year is only around 1.9 Earth years, and Jupiter's 11.9.

My idea for trying to terraform Venus (if it isn't just easily to pick up and move elsewhere - even onto a space station or generation ship) would be to try to precipitate all that sulfuric acid floating around in the atmosphere first.

I actually had a 'move Europa' idea like QA, but mine was to just move it into orbit around Mars, not crash the moon into the planet (doesn't Mars have enough water as it is? Europa would add mass, and thus a closer gravity to Earth, but might lead to a water world if the two were smooshed together - I don't know the size differential between the two, but Europa is one of Jupiter's largest moons - update: Europa's mass, .008 Earths; Mars' mass, .107 Earths - Novo Martians would be tall and weak). If planned correctly, could Europa be used to tug Mars closer to the Sun (and warmer climes)? I'm guessing it wouldn't be enough to kick start Mars magnetic field. Now-waterworld Europa could then be used for aquaculture to supply colonist ships heading further out into the Solar System, or for food to supply to space stations made from the Asteroid Belt.

Just my daydreaming.

Also, trying to orbit one planet or large moon around another is going to be very difficult, which is why few scientists believe that Earth’s Moon was captured. There is no way to slow it down and establish a stable orbit. Crashing two large bodies together into a stable orbit is a lot easier. As for moving planets closer to Earth’s orbit, remember that they will influence Earth’s orbit so that’s a dangerous game to be playing.

A planet similar to Earth could be discovered in a distant solar system within three years, according to a leading astronomer.

Or not.

The problem with that is that there is a lot more that made Earth a living planet then the Sun. After all, out of the nine planets (Yes, I know about Pluto.) there was only one of us. If a sun type star was all that was necessary for life there would be nine living planets. There are not.

I'm thinking about checking out the tech on a smaller scale. If we can disappear in one place and re-appear in another place for a test case, you won't have to drive the 405 into L.A., or the I-95 3100 miles from here.

I want to know how the UFO beings tricked the 5 to 11 other dimensions technically and physically into their favor. They can't get here using just time and space (4 dimensions). I've seen one. They must have been told 'DO NOT CONTACT' while stopping by.

We might be downright dangerous to them all. In space and on land.

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