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Earthlike Planet Orbiting Nearby Star

Posted by kdawson on from the 13-days-a-year dept.

The Bad Astronomer writes "Astronomers in Europe have announced the discovery of a planet with only 5 times the Earth's mass, orbiting a red dwarf star 20 light years away. It orbits the star so closely that it only takes 13 days to go around... but the star is so cool that the temperature of the planet is between 0 and 40 Celsius. At this temperature there could be liquid water. Models indicate the planet is either rocky like the Earth or covered in an ocean. While it's not known if there actually is liquid water on the planet, this is a really big discovery, and indicates that we are getting ever closer to finding another Earth orbiting an alien star."

3 of 617 comments (clear)

  1. Only one thing to do! by AssCork · · Score: -1, Flamebait

    Send the Republicans to conquer it immediately!

    --
    The following replies are posted by unwashed nerds.
  2. Re:Uninhabital new worlds by MancunianMaskMan · · Score: -1, Flamebait

    It is good to see everyone has a positive attitude for space exploration
    Positive attitude my arse. Why should anyone in their right minds have a positive attitude to stuff like that? Space travel is a luxury that earth can't afford. If Steven Hawking sayus it's not that shows he's off his rocker as far as politics goes, even if he's clever with his physics. If we fsck up our planet beyond repair, who cares if some telephone sanitizers (or theoretical physicists, or burger flippers for that matter) can bugger off to another star? It sure isn't an option for the most of us. Why should anyone care about something 20 lightyears away? If this is interesting for something, then it's for establishing a radio link, even though a conversation with 40 years of latency may feel a bit tiresome.
  3. Re:Uninhabital new worlds by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1, Flamebait

    I bet it would still be more intellectually stimulating than bantering with chickenheads like you on Dashslot.