Life can be found on one of the latest planets to be discovered outside the solar system in 2010. World hunters have focused on a red dwarf star about 20 light years away called Gliese 581 which they suspected may offer a world similar to Earth. Wednesday they announced the discovery of Gliese 581g, a rocky planet orbiting its star within the “Goldilocks zone,” a distance considered “just right” for water to exist for the development of organic life.
Locating the Goldilocks zone
Of the University of California, Santa Cruz, Steven S. Vogt took part within the announcement of Geliese 581g as the new planet found in 2010. Of the Carnegie Institute of Washington, R. Paul Butler also took place in this announcement. As reported within the New York Times, Gliese (GLEE-za) 581g orbits Gliese 581, a dim red star, once each 37 days at a distance of about 14 million miles. Scientists explain that in the Goldilocks zone, this is the only place where it is not too hot or too cold making it possible for water and life to survive. Vogt said the chances “are almost 100 percent” that there is life on Gliese 581g.
Gliese 581g may just have existence there
Gliese 581g is one of six known planets orbiting Gliese 581, a star about one-third the size and one-hundredth the brightness of the Sun. Scientific Americans reports that two of the Gliese 581 planets bracket the Goldilocks zone. Gliese 581g orbits between those worlds although it is three times the size of earth. The Goldilocks zone has never had an exoplanet discovered in it before. Now there is one. It doesn’t have numerous similarities with Earth. There are a couple of differences. Gliese 581g is what planet hunters call “tidally locked,” meaning it is like the moon in that only one side of it faces its star. Surface temperatures are expected to range from 31 below zero Fahrenheit on the night side to 158 degrees on the day side. Vogt explained that life could exist within the world. The only thing that would need to be worked with would be the “eco-longitudes” which is the permanent day and night on the planet.
In 2010, planets are being identified
Gliese 581g was found using the radial-velocity, or “wobble,” technique. The Los Angeles Times explains how the wobble technique works. It involves detecting a gravitational pull during orbit that the world has on the sun. The planet seekers made sure to make some brightness measurements. These showed that Gliese 581g was causing Gliese 581 for making some wobbles.
Articles cited
New York Times
nytimes.com/2010/09/30/science/space/30planet.html?_r=1 and ref=science
Scientific American
scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=habitable-exoplanet-gliese-581
Los Angeles times
latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/wire/sns-earth-like-planet,,7897054.story
