Wow, this is a great story to get this blog off the ground with! Gliese 581 C is the name of the planet, the smallest and most Earthlike exoplanet discovered so far. It is in the habitable zone of its star, with an estimated surface temperature between 0 and 40 degrees Celsius. This of course means water could exist as a liquid on the surface. Also, its relatively small size as exoplanets go means the gravity would not be crushing. This makes it a great candidate for extraterrestrial life. And at a distance of 20.5 light years, it is right in our galactic backyard.
The proximity of this discovery does indicate that similar planets may be plentiful. If you look at something like the Drake equation when you have values that you can back up with evidence, the debate around SETI becomes really interesting.
Thanks for reading my first entry! I didn't want to get too deep or detailed until I am more comfortable with doing this. Please bear with me while I figure out how to go beyond the basics and start getting photos, user-friendly formatting and so on incorporated. See you out there!
1 comment:
This is absolutely exciting! It does show that the idea that we are the only planet that can and does sustain life is absolutely arrogant, LOL. I love that there are alternatives out there and possibly new life to connect with. Hopefully friendly life.
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