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Gliese 581d Confirmed as 'Habitable' Exoplanet

Posted by CmdrTaco on from the but-you-wouldn't-want-to-live-there dept.

An anonymous reader writes "A rocky world orbiting a nearby star was confirmed (PDF) as the first planet outside our Solar System to meet key requirements for sustaining life." The "key requirement" was actually a Starbucks — astronomers were pretty surprised to find out that they like their coffee burnt on Gliese 581d too.

2 of 451 comments (clear)

  1. Re:300,000 years to get there by MoonBuggy · · Score: 4, Informative

    According to TFA it looks to be habitable in principle (using Earth-centric assumptions about complex life, of course) but toxic to humans, so perhaps not a prime candidate for humanity's first extrasolar excursion.

  2. Re:Goldilocks != "Habitable" by WhiplashII · · Score: 5, Informative

    You won't find oxygen in an atmosphere without life already on the planet. Oxygen is too reactive.

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