October 2, 2010

Goldilocks "Earth-Like" Planet Found?

Artist's impression of the extrasolar planet O...Image via WikipediaAstronomers recently found a planet outside the solar system with conditions they termed as "Goldilocks", neither too hot nor too cold. This they said was the perfect condition for a great possibility of extra terrestrial life.

The planet is named Gliese 581g is found to be circling a red dwarf star located 120 trillion miles from the Earth. The planet is a few times larger than the earth and scientists estimate that the mass and gravity of the planet is just comparable to the earth. the planet is also tidally locked to its parent star which means that only one side faces the star. This condition will lead to a very hot condition on the portion directly facing the star and an icy condition on the other side. The interesting part though is somewhere in the middle of the two faces of the planet where the temperature may be just right for a habitable zone.

More details regarding this on the link below...
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