Earth 2: The Next Frontier
Another 'Earth' found, but it's 188 trillion km away
WASHINGTON: For the first time, astronomers have detected a planet in another solar system that has the essential conditions needed to support life.
The presence of Earth-like planets outside our solar system, in what is called the ''habitable zone'', has been predicted for some time, but identifying and measuring one marks the beginning of a new era in the search for life beyond Earth.
''This is our first Goldilocks planet - just the right size and the right distance from its sun. A threshold has been reached,'' said Paul Butler, an astronomer and ''planet-hunter'' at the Carnegie Institution of Washington.
The planet is orbiting in the middle of the habitable zone of the red dwarf star Gliese 581, which means it could have water on its surface. Named Gliese 581g, it has a mass three to four times that of Earth and an orbital period of just under 37 days.
Its mass indicates that it is probably a rocky planet and has enough gravity to hold on to an atmosphere, said Steven Vogt, a professor of astronomy and astrophysics at the University of California, Santa Cruz, and one of the leaders of the team that discovered the planet.
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