Post by auntym on Jan 19, 2012 13:09:37 GMT -6
www.nhm.ac.uk/about-us/news/2012/january/could-2012-be-the-year-we-find-extraterrestrial-life107478.html
Could 2012 be the year we find extraterrestrial life?
18 January 2012
The star system of the new Earth-like planet Kepler-22b shown in comparison with our own solar system. Earth and Kepler-22b are in the habitable zones where temperatures are right for liquid water to exist. © NASA
Last year came to an exciting end with the discovery of an Earth-like planet, Kepler-22b, orbiting a sun-like star outside of our solar system. It was found by NASA’s Kepler mission and is the first planet detected orbiting in a star’s habitable zone, the region around a star where liquid water, a requirement for life on Earth, could persist.
Artwork of the Kepler photometer instrument mounted on the Kepler spacecraft
Artwork of the Kepler photometer instrument mounted on the Kepler spacecraft © NASA/Kepler mission
The Kepler mission also found 9 other near-Earth-size potential planets that orbit in the habitable zone of their host star. And this month, scientists published results of a 6-year study strengthening the possibility that life forms similar to those on Earth exist elsewhere.
So could 2012 be the year to find extraterrestrial life? Investigating Kepler-22b and the other possible planets is certainly a good place to start.
Natural History Museum extra-planetary expert Sara Russell comments on the finds, ‘These are really exciting new discoveries. It has been one of the main aims in astronomy over the last decade or so to search for Earth-like planets, and it looks as if we are getting nearer that goal.
‘Kepler 22b is similar to the Earth in being a similar distance away from its sun, but in some ways it is very different - it is probably much larger than the Earth, and so not an actual "twin",’ says Russell.
Scientists do not yet know if Kepler-22b is made up of a rocky, gaseous, or liquid composition. It is about 600 light years away, within our own galaxy, the Milky Way.
What is essential for life?
CONTINUE READING: www.nhm.ac.uk/about-us/news/2012/january/could-2012-be-the-year-we-find-extraterrestrial-life107478.html
Could 2012 be the year we find extraterrestrial life?
18 January 2012
The star system of the new Earth-like planet Kepler-22b shown in comparison with our own solar system. Earth and Kepler-22b are in the habitable zones where temperatures are right for liquid water to exist. © NASA
Last year came to an exciting end with the discovery of an Earth-like planet, Kepler-22b, orbiting a sun-like star outside of our solar system. It was found by NASA’s Kepler mission and is the first planet detected orbiting in a star’s habitable zone, the region around a star where liquid water, a requirement for life on Earth, could persist.
Artwork of the Kepler photometer instrument mounted on the Kepler spacecraft
Artwork of the Kepler photometer instrument mounted on the Kepler spacecraft © NASA/Kepler mission
The Kepler mission also found 9 other near-Earth-size potential planets that orbit in the habitable zone of their host star. And this month, scientists published results of a 6-year study strengthening the possibility that life forms similar to those on Earth exist elsewhere.
So could 2012 be the year to find extraterrestrial life? Investigating Kepler-22b and the other possible planets is certainly a good place to start.
Natural History Museum extra-planetary expert Sara Russell comments on the finds, ‘These are really exciting new discoveries. It has been one of the main aims in astronomy over the last decade or so to search for Earth-like planets, and it looks as if we are getting nearer that goal.
‘Kepler 22b is similar to the Earth in being a similar distance away from its sun, but in some ways it is very different - it is probably much larger than the Earth, and so not an actual "twin",’ says Russell.
Scientists do not yet know if Kepler-22b is made up of a rocky, gaseous, or liquid composition. It is about 600 light years away, within our own galaxy, the Milky Way.
What is essential for life?
CONTINUE READING: www.nhm.ac.uk/about-us/news/2012/january/could-2012-be-the-year-we-find-extraterrestrial-life107478.html