Twin Sister of the Earth

FOR LONG HUMANS have been in search of another planet, which had similar features like earth and which would support, life form.

And for those looking for a quiet but habitable spot away from the hustle and bustle of the earth life, Gliese 581 just seems to be the right place.

Gliese 581 was identified at the European Southern Observatory (Eso) facility at La Silla in the Atacama Desert recently

The planet is located around a star known as the Gliese 581, which is about 20.5 light years away from earth's solar system and among one of the 100 closest stars to the sun. One year on the planet lasts for only 13 days.

To make the discovery possible, researchers had to use a very sensitive instrument called HARPS (High Accuracy Radial Velocity for Planetary Searcher) that can measure tiny changes in the velocity of a star as it experiences the gravitational tug of a nearby planet.

Gliese 581 is much cooler and dimmer than our own Sun and the discovery has created tremendous excitement among scientists.

The Gliese 581 super-Earth is in what scientists call the "Goldilocks Zone" where temperatures "are just right" for life to have a chance to exist.

The yet unnamed planet is only about one-and-a-half times the size of earth and five times massive than our earth, according to a team of European astronomers.

Its discoverers are not yet clear that if it has a rocky surface like the Earth or if it’s a frozen ice ball with liquid water on the surface.

If it is rocky like Earth, according to the prevailing theory, it has a diameter ``of about one and a half times bigger than our planet and if it is an ice ball, then it would be even bigger.

The research team believes that the average temperature of the planet to be somewhere between 0 and 40 degrees celcius and that has set off celebrations among astronomers.

Until now, all 220 planets found by astronomers outside our solar system have had the "Goldilocks problem." They've been either too hot or too cold. Or they are just a plain—too big and gaseous—like uninhabitable Jupiter.

Xavier Delfosse of Grenoble University in France said that the newfound planet could inhabit life and will definitely be a target for future space missions to find extra-terrestrial beings.


Source:http://www.merinews.com/catFull.jsp?articleID=124889


Basically I feel in this biggest Galaxy some where there is complex life

Tanoy