Alien life certain to exist on Earth-like planet, scientists say

The chances of alien life existing on a newly-discovered Earth-like planet are 100 per cent, an astronomer has claimed.

Gliese 581g was discovered orbiting a nearby star at a distance that places it squarely in the "habitable zone" where liquid could exist on its surface. Of around 500 planets that astronomers have found outside Earth's solar system, this is the first to be considered habitable.

The planet is a similar size to Earth and its mass indicates that it is probably rocky with a definite surface and has enough gravity to hold an atmosphere, according to Prof Steven Vogt, who led the team that discovered it.

It is as yet unknown whether water does exist on the planet or what kind of atmosphere it has. But because conditions are ideal for liquid, which is always a precursor for life on Earth, Prof Vogt believes that life will undoubtedly have begun there.

"Personally, given the ubiquity and propensity of life to flourish wherever it can, I would say, my own personal feeling is that the chances of life on this planet are 100 percent," he said during a press briefing. "I have almost no doubt about it."

The findings are based on 11 years of observations by ground-based telescopes at the W. M. Keck Observatory in Hawaii.

The close proximity of Gliese 581g and the fact that it was found relatively early in the astronomers' search suggests that there may be billions of other habitable planets like Earth in the universe.

Prof Vogt estimates that as many as one in five to 10 stars in the universe have planets that are Earth-sized and in the habitable zone.

With an estimated 200 billion stars in the galaxy, that means that around 40 billion planets could have the potential for life, he said.

The new findings by Prof Vogt and Paul Butler, of the Carnegie Institution in Washington, will be published in the Astrophysical Journal.

The paper reports the discovery of two new planets around the nearby red dwarf star Gliese 581.

The most interesting of the two new planets is Gliese 581g, which has a mass three to four times that of Earth and an orbital period of just under 37 days.

Gliese 581g is located 20 light years away from Earth in the constellation Libra.

The planet is tidally locked to the star, meaning that one side is always facing the star and basking in perpetual daylight, while the side facing away from the star is in perpetual darkness.

The researchers estimate that the average surface temperature of the planet is between -24 and 10 degrees Fahrenheit (-31 to -12 degrees Celsius).

Actual temperatures would range from blazing hot on the side facing the star to freezing cold on the dark side.

The surface gravity would be about the same or slightly higher than Earth's, so that a person could easily walk upright on the planet, Prof Vogt said.

Related News:
http://www.nasa.gov/topics/universe/features/gliese_581_feature.html

http://www.nsf.gov/news/news_summ.jsp?cntn_id=117765&org=NSF&from=news

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-13423085

Category:

Science & Technology

Tags:

• Gliese
• 581g
• 581d
• Alien
• Life
• Earth-like
• Planet
• NASA
• NSF

[vlad007001]

LETS KILL THEM ALL AND TAKE THE OIL AND THEN BUILD FACTORIES AND OVERPOPULATE IT AND FUCK IT AS WE DID WITH EARTH

[uldeskoolgamer]

REACH!!!

[GarlicPudding]

Good. Now we have two options: 1. Exploitation, if that life is useful 2. Extermination, if it isn't

[1daneboefan]

hey you remember how God is infinite right? so maybe we have a multiverse with an infinite amount of earth-like planets in each universe so they God may be trying to pass it on (generation, by generation etc) and he is the one and only God responsible for everything. thumbs up if you agree.

[Firesprink72]

How did this become an argument over the existence of God? Life beyond the Earth in no way proves nor disproves the existence of God. The Bible is full of stories about intelligences far beyond our own that are not from this Earth. The Bible never said that we were completely alone, just the opposite!

[Firesprink72]

Planets do not even have to be within the "Goldilocks" zone to have liquid water, or support life. If a planet's rotation is "tidally locked" with its star, the way the moon's rotation is tidally locked with Earth. This means that because of unbalanced mass, the same side of the planet always faces the star the way the same side of the moon always faces the Earth. Even if it is too hot on one side of the planet, and too cold on the other, there will be a zone in between that is just right.

[aDislikeBot]

@bluokeywushey I'm afraid there is no god buddy.

[YourePrettyGoood]

@BamfKelleigh God has always been. He is infinite and isnt bound by time and space. It's impossible to comprehend. Even if you don't believe in God(which is weird since there is no other reasonable explanation how all this came from nothing) then you must believe in infinity somewhere somehow, whether is be in or outside of the universe. And that is also incomprehensable. We weren't meant to understand. We werent charged with understanding we were charged with spreading God's glory

[irishbreakfast]

and it seems that nature works the same everywhere,and elements are constant,and energy and matter are even,light and heat is the same and a sperm and an egg make a new growing being.so did the reaction come from within or without???I say without.just like 3d nature dictates!you know yore on the right track when the answer you seek raises many other much bigger questions,that in time youll learn to ask. so lets be sure what we mean when we say GOD. not everyones on the same page with what it is

[irishbreakfast]

what was the source that ignited the 'great flash'(not bang!) ??? obviously,inert,non-cohesive,n­on-srutctured broth of darkness and lacking of matheatical order at some point something happened that caused the cascade,which still continues today,we see it as backround radiation.thats creation happening!but did this 'mathematical sperm' come from WITHIN the primevel broth,or OUTSIDE IT? in nature,the MALE gives mathematical cohesion to an egg telling it how to grow and comes from OUTSIDE the womb

[Y0blake]

@bluokeywushey mate your not living in reality. god didn't create anything because there isn't such a thing. it's just us an the aliens.

[thomascaza]

@XxLOLIFIEDxX What do you mean?