A new habitable planet is discovered… and it’s only 20.5 light years away
Throw away your hybrid cars, stop recycling and waste more food…we now have an ‘habitable planet’ we can move to and abuse.
Admittedly, it is 20.5 lights years away (It would take 20.5 years to reach it while travelling at the speed of light).
Putting that to one side, this planet, imaginatively called GJ 581d, is believed to have a surface temperature that is cool enough to allow water to pool on the surface, which means it could possibly support life.
Only last year, this potential new home for the human race was thought to be simply ‘stellar activity masquerading as planet’ but luckily this has now been disproved by researchers from Queen Mary University of London (QMUL) and University of Hertfordshire based on new audio evidence
Leading author of the paper, Dr Guillem Anglada-Escudé, wrote in Sciencemagazine: ‘The existence, or not, of GJ 581d is significant because it was the first Earth-like planet discovered in the “Goldilocks-zone” around another star and it is a benchmark case for the Doppler technique.’
The Goldilocks-zone is simply the distance from a star that will allow a planet habitable conditions – the physics equivalent of the just right temperature of porridge.
How about we come up with a better name for the planet? Any suggestions?
Like New North Wales – Always felt sorry that South Wales got an area named after it while its northern neighbour got ignored.
Throw away your hybrid cars, stop recycling and waste more food…we now have an ‘habitable planet’ we can move to and abuse.
Admittedly, it is 20.5 lights years away (It would take 20.5 years to reach it while travelling at the speed of light).
Putting that to one side, this planet, imaginatively called GJ 581d, is believed to have a surface temperature that is cool enough to allow water to pool on the surface, which means it could possibly support life.
Only last year, this potential new home for the human race was thought to be simply ‘stellar activity masquerading as planet’ but luckily this has now been disproved by researchers from Queen Mary University of London (QMUL) and University of Hertfordshire based on new audio evidence
Leading author of the paper, Dr Guillem Anglada-Escudé, wrote in Sciencemagazine: ‘The existence, or not, of GJ 581d is significant because it was the first Earth-like planet discovered in the “Goldilocks-zone” around another star and it is a benchmark case for the Doppler technique.’
The Goldilocks-zone is simply the distance from a star that will allow a planet habitable conditions – the physics equivalent of the just right temperature of porridge.
How about we come up with a better name for the planet? Any suggestions?
Like New North Wales – Always felt sorry that South Wales got an area named after it while its northern neighbour got ignored.
Exercises
1. Location:  |
2. What happened:Scientists discovered a new habitable planet called GJ 581d (Gliese 581d) and it only it is only 20.5 light years away. This planet is part of the Goldilocks-zone (the region around a star within which planets can support water at their surfaces) as it has got a cool temperature allowing water to pool on the surface. In theory the human race can survive here.
3. Impact:
This discovery takes place is a part of cosmography as it has something to do with the universe. This discovery is very important for the human race. The new habitable planet can be a new place to live on when our earth is about to die out. It also gives us new knowledge of the universe and its sercrets.
This discovery takes place is a part of cosmography as it has something to do with the universe. This discovery is very important for the human race. The new habitable planet can be a new place to live on when our earth is about to die out. It also gives us new knowledge of the universe and its sercrets.
URL: http://metro.co.uk/2015/03/05/a-new-habitable-planet-is-discovered-and-its-only-20-5-light-years-away-5090750/
