Washington: Astronomers
say they have for the first time spotted a planet beyond Earth in
what is sometimes called the Goldilocks zone for life: where
crucial conditions for life to exist are just right. Not too far
from its star, not too close. So it could contain liquid water.
The planet itself is neither too big nor too small for the proper
surface, gravity and atmosphere. It is just right. Just like
Earth.
"This really is the first Goldilocks planet," said
co-discoverer R. Paul Butler of the Carnegie Institution of
Washington. The new planet sits directly in the middle of what
astronomers refer to as the habitable zone, unlike any of the
nearly 500 other planets astronomers have found outside Earth's
solar system.
It also is in Earth's galactic neighbourhood, suggesting that
plenty of Earth-like planets circle other stars. Finding a planet
that could potentially support life is a major step toward
answering the timeless question: Are we alone? Scientists have
jumped the gun before on proclaiming that planets outside Earth's
solar system were habitable only to have them turn out to be not
quite so conducive to life.
This one, however, is so clearly in the right zone that five
outside astronomers told The Associated Press it seems to be the
real thing. "This is the first one I'm truly excited
about," said Penn State University's Jim Kasting. He said
this planet is a "pretty prime candidate" for harbouring
life.
Life on other planets does not mean ET. Even a simple single-cell
bacteria or the equivalent of shower mold would shake perceptions
about the uniqueness of life on Earth. But there remain many
unanswered questions about this strange planet. It is about three
times the mass of Earth, slightly larger in width and much closer
to its star -- 14 million miles away versus 93 million. It is so
close to its version of the sun that it orbits every 37 days. And
it does not rotate much, so one side is almost always bright, the
other dark. Temperatures can be as hot as 71 Celsius or as frigid
as minus 4 Celsius below zero, but in between - in the land of
constant sunrise - it would be "shirt-sleeve weather,"
said co-discoverer Steven Vogt of the University of California at
Santa Cruz.
It is unknown whether water exists on the planet, and what kind of
atmosphere it has. Because conditions are ideal for liquid water,
however, and because there always seems to be life on Earth where
there is water, Vogt believes "that chances for life on this
planet are 100 per cent."
The astronomers' findings are being published in Astrophysical
Journal and were announced by the National Science Foundation.
