Earth-like Exoplanets - Discussions & Developments

[xXTheOneRavenXx]

I just got done reading the article. Congrats to the finders. If this turns out to be the real-deal then they just engraved their names in the history books. With Gliese581 being smaller and a red dwarf, could it's gravitational influence on the planet be different as well not to allow the planet to be tidally locked? What reference do we have of this type of star/planet size & mass? Also, had Gliese581 d been completely discarded as possibly still within the habitable zone? Last article I read on that was it may be just outside the zone and another said just within. Was there any final decision?

Stephen Hawking also had some interesting thoughts as to the types of creatures that may exist under increased gravity. If Gliese581g is tidally locked and has the temperatures estimated in the article, there could be creatures that are completely nocturnal and cold resistant, while others would adjust to permanent light. Sounds like quite the interesting place that's for sure.

 

[bdewoody]

Any civilization living there would certainly have a fascinating system to exist in. Not only does g look habitable, but d looks like it may be as well. I'd be willing to bet that if Mars was similar to Earth, we would have been there by now. Perhaps the Glieseans have made such a leap. What can we hope for in the way of new data about its atmospheric contents and possible oceans?

You are reading more into this than is there. OK they know by whatever means they are using that a planet exists in the "habitable" zone of this red dwarf but everything more including whether it has water is pure speculation and logical deduction.

Even if this newly discovered planet has everything we need to settle down and start a new civilization it is still 20 light years away. So maybe our great great great grandchildren will develope a space ark and start out for a new life. And maybe their great great great grandchildren will hear back from them and find out what happened.

 

[xXTheOneRavenXx]

Now that we have two planets within 20 light years of each other (Earth & Gliese581g) that are within their parent stars habitable zone, does this increase the percentile of how often this condition appears or change the estimate of many earth-like planets there may be? We also looked at Gliese581c and d I believe that when first discovered were thought to be right in the habitable zone. Gliese581c had something to do with affects on it's atmospheric conditions, and d was thought to be an oceanic planet. Is it possible that this system may harbour more than one planet that can sustain life? It certainly sounds like a very interesting system to say the least. hhhmmmm, if I were Steven Vogt, I would not have given any opinion of what the chances of life existing on this planet may be until more data came in and further studies were conducted. He could (or already has) receive some backlash for that statement.

 

[wolverine84]

Any civilization living there would certainly have a fascinating system to exist in. Not only does g look habitable, but d looks like it may be as well. I'd be willing to bet that if Mars was similar to Earth, we would have been there by now. Perhaps the Glieseans have made such a leap. What can we hope for in the way of new data about its atmospheric contents and possible oceans?

You are reading more into this than is there. OK they know by whatever means they are using that a planet exists in the "habitable" zone of this red dwarf but everything more including whether it has water is pure speculation and logical deduction.

Even if this newly discovered planet has everything we need to settle down and start a new civilization it is still 20 light years away. So maybe our great great great grandchildren will develope a space ark and start out for a new life. And maybe their great great great grandchildren will hear back from them and find out what happened.

On all things said about this planet, how can it be habitable for us with three times more mass than earth?.

 

[xXTheOneRavenXx]

Hawking does a few good videos for the Discovery Channel, one being on the variety of life forms that could be found in the universe:

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dRTLkGbJJ-I[/youtube]

 

[xXTheOneRavenXx]

I sent someone I know a link to the article and for some reason the headline of the link reads:
"An exoplanet, dubbed Gliese 581g, has been spotted orbiting a nearby star in our solar system. The planet could possibly support alien life, astronomers say."

lol, the last time I checked there is only one star in our solar system and Gliese 581g does not orbit it.

 

[MeteorWayne]

The "media" is so intensely ignorant, it's almost hard to imagine...if we didn't read their crap every day. :roll:

 

[Yuri_Armstrong]

On all things said about this planet, how can it be habitable for us with three times more mass than earth?.

Why would the mass of the planet matter? I think that's the thing that probably matters the least. Three times more mass than Earth isn't that much anyway.

 

[Smersh]

This latest discovery in the Gliese 581 system has had a lot on coverage on news broadcasts today and it looks like this is the most exciting discovery (as far as extrasolar planets are concerned) so far.

However, I seem to recall that another planet was discovered about a year ago in the same system and also said to be about 3x Earth mass wasn't it? And as I remember, that one was the most Earth-like planet discovered up till then. Are we now actually talking about two Earth-like planets in the same system here?

(Edit) Sorry Raven but I overlooked your post ...

... We also looked at Gliese581c and d I believe that when first discovered were thought to be right in the habitable zone. Gliese581c had something to do with affects on it's atmospheric conditions, and d was thought to be an oceanic planet. Is it possible that this system may harbour more than one planet that can sustain life? ...

My question remains though!

 

[wolverine84]

On all things said about this planet, how can it be habitable for us with three times more mass than earth?.

Why would the mass of the planet matter? I think that's the thing that probably matters the least. Three times more mass than Earth isn't that much anyway.

well, making things three times heavier than on earth makes at least the atmosphere much more denser thus making the pressure higher and so on.

 

[xXTheOneRavenXx]

(Edit) Sorry Raven but I overlooked your post ...

My question remains though!

No problem Smersh A lot of the questions regarding increased mass, air pressure, gravity, etc... when it comes to a planet within the habitable zone and it's affects on the development of life I think have already been answered. Are we forgetting that in 2005 it was reported that life forms were discovered in the deepest part of the ocean, around 7km's deep. After remembering this topic, I had to look it up to refresh myself.

Life Is Found Thriving at Ocean's Deepest Point

"At the ocean's deepest point, the water pressure is the equivalent of having about 50 jumbo jets piled on top of you. Yet even here life thrives, according to scientists who have pulled a plug of dirt from the seafloor. "

Then in the other extreme you have some species of fish in the antarctic which have adapted to the cold by having a natural antifreeze in their bodies to protect them from freezing to death. So the question if life can survive in extremes, is yes.

 

[Smersh]

... Then in the other extreme you have some species of fish in the antarctic which have adapted to the cold by having a natural antifreeze in their bodies to protect them from freezing to death. So the question if life can survive in extremes, is yes.

Absolutely Raven and I've made a similar point myself in other threads about the extremophiles, microscopic organisms that have been discovered on Earth surviving in very extreme temperatures, such as at temperatures of 230 deg C in volcanic vents on the ocean floor.

So as I've mentioned before, I'm not convinced that the "Goldilocks Zone" (or even "Earth-like" planets for that matter) are absolutely neccessary requirements for life to survive.

 

[EarthlingX]

More debate on the topic, and about that '100%' chance.

http://www.universetoday.com : Could Chance for Life on Gliese 581g Actually Be “100%”?

I think it's highly probable, but so far no evidence.

 

[xXTheOneRavenXx]

I knew he would get some flack for stating that. However he did say it was in his own personal opinion. Although how he worded it was probably mis-leading.

 

[robotical]

I'm not sure how one would assign a probability to the existence of life on Gliese 581 considering we have an N of one for life so far. There simply isn't near enough information to calculate a probability.

 

[Smersh]

Yes I would agree that a "100% chance" of life on Gliese 581G is stretching things just a bit at least. For a start, maybe life existed there up to a few million years ago, has since died out in a mass extinction event of some kind and not yet reappeared. Or maybe it hasn't appeared at all yet, but may do at some point in the future.

Since we've now discovered this very interesting exoplanet though, I would imagine it will be getting watched like a hawk with the most state-of-the-art equipment we have for any signs of life and by SETI as well, to see if any interesting signals come from there won't it?

 

[EarthlingX]

io9.com : The astrophysicist who discovered Zarmina describes life on "second Earth"

By Annalee Newitz

Oct 1, 2010 01:36 PM

Steve Vogt is the UC Santa Cruz astrophysicist who discovered Zarmina, the first recorded Earthlike planet outside our solar system. He told io9 what a human colony there would be like, and why he believes the planet already harbors life.

I spoke to Vogt at his home in Santa Cruz by phone last night. The planet's official name is Gliese 581g, but Vogt has nicknamed it Zarmina, which is his wife's name.

...

 

[grokme]

I had heard they were going to call it Goldilocks, which fits. Also, what would the weather be like on said planet? We have the rotation of the Earth here to help things out.

 

[crazypete_102]

Hey I'm willing to jump the guns and say where can I sign up to go there it has to be better than here lol ! and I would love to be one of the first to step out on to new ground and help build a new home for us ! Besides if they made a mistake and it wasn't inhabitable, and we burnt up on the planets surface oh well We tried and by the time anyone knew what happened it would be too late anyways and honestly how else are we going to find out the truth unless we go there because we can sit here day after day arguing it over and by the time we find anything out it will be too late for any of us to go anyways I say get 50 of either sex put them on a ship and send them hopefully they all survive the trip and take the people who are willing to go and send them off on their way ! like honestly will our families be around to sue them if something goes wrong ! I'll take the chance to be famous and go at what ever the cost but then again my luck someone will find a faster transportation and beat me there !

 

[Agelesslink]

the fellas just a little excited guys. cant hate him for it. im excited as well. hopefully we'll find water

 

[MeteorWayne]

Deleted Off Topic Cross Post.

Moderator Meteor Wayne

 

[Nehmo]

I'm curious how we know Gliese 581g is tidally locked?

~~ Nehmo

 

[MeteorWayne]

We don't know for sure, but considering the distance from the star, the tidal locking time would be less than the age of the system, so it's very likely.

 

[bdewoody]

All of this is based on the amount of wobble by Gliese 581 that has been detected? Or has this planet been optically detected? It seems to me that there is a whole lot of speculation going on here. Maybe to get the masses stirred up about space again. What's going to happen when all the hupla dies down and the real facts are sorted out. Heck they are claming to know almost as much about Gliese 581G as they do about Mars.

 

[Smersh]

All of this is based on the amount of wobble by Gliese 581 that has been detected? Or has this planet been optically detected? It seems to me that there is a whole lot of speculation going on here. Maybe to get the masses stirred up about space again. What's going to happen when all the hupla dies down and the real facts are sorted out. Heck they are claming to know almost as much about Gliese 581G as they do about Mars.

I agree Bdewoody. How we can claim to know so much about a small planet 20-odd light years away mystifies me as well and as you said I'm sure a lot of it has to be pure speculation, particularly by the mass media. They're on pretty safe ground though of course because they can't possibly be proved wrong for quite some time!