It's got the same climate as Earth, plus water and gravity. A newly discovered planet is the most stunning evidence that life - just like us - might be out there.
Above a calm, dark ocean, a huge, bloated red sun rises in the sky - a full ten times the size of our Sun as seen from Earth. Small waves lap at a sandy shore and on the beach, something stirs...
This is the scene - or may be the scene - on what is possibly the most extraordinary world to have been discovered by astronomers: the first truly Earth-like planet to have been found outside our Solar System.
The discovery was announced today by a team of European astronomers, using a telescope in La Silla in the Chilean Andes.
The Earth-like planet that could be covered in oceans and may support life is 20.5 light years away, and has the right temperature to allow liquid water on its surface.
This remarkable discovery appears to confirm the suspicions of most astronomers that the universe is swarming with Earth-like worlds.
We don't yet know much about this planet, but scientists believe that it may be the best candidate so far for supporting extraterrestrial life.
The new planet, which orbits a small, red star called Gliese 581, is about one-and-a-half times the diameter of the Earth.
It probably has a substantial atmosphere and may be covered with large amounts of water - necessary for life to evolve - and, most importantly, temperatures are very similar to those on our world.
It is the first exoplanet (a planet orbiting a star other than our own Sun) that is anything like our Earth.
Of the 220 or so exoplanets found to date, most have either been too big, made of gas rather than solid material, far too hot, or far too cold for life to survive.
"On the treasure map of the Universe, one would be tempted to mark this planet with an X," says Xavier Delfosse, one of the scientists who discovered the planet.
"Because of its temperature and relative proximity, this planet will most probably be a very important target of the future space missions dedicated to the search for extraterrestrial life."
Gliese 581 is among the closest stars to us, just 20.5 light years away (about 120 trillion miles) in the constellation Libra. It is so dim it can be seen only with a good telescope.
Because all planets are relatively so small and the light they give off so faint compared to their sun, finding exoplanets is extremely difficult unless they are huge.
Those that have so far been detected have mostly been massive, Jupiter-like balls of gas that almost certainly cannot be home to life.
This new planet - known for the time being as Gliese 581c - is a midget in comparison, being about 12,000 miles across (Earth is a little under 8,000 pole-to-pole).
It has a mass five times that of Earth, probably made of the same sort of rock as makes up our world and with enough gravity to hold a substantial atmosphere.
Astrobiologists - scientists who study the possibility of alien life - refer to a climate known as the Goldilocks Zone, where it is not so cold that water freezes and not so hot that it boils, but where it can lie on the planet's surface as a liquid.
In our solar system, only one planet - Earth -lies in the Goldilocks Zone. Venus is far too hot and Mars is just too cold. This new planet lies bang in the middle of the zone, with average surface temperatures estimated to be between zero and 40c (32-102f). Lakes, rivers and even oceans are possible.
It is not clear what this planet is made of. If it is rock, like the Earth, then its surface may be land, or a combination of land and ocean.
Another possibility is that Gliese 581c was formed mostly from ice far from the star (ice is a very common substance in the Universe), and moved to the close orbit it inhabits today.
In which case its entire surface will have melted to form a giant, planet-wide ocean with no land, save perhaps a few rocky islands or icebergs.
The surface gravity is probably around twice that of the Earth and the atmosphere could be similar to ours.
Although the new planet is in itself very Earth-like, its solar system is about as alien as could be imagined. The star at the centre - Gliese 581 - is small and dim, only about a third the size of our Sun and about 50 times cooler.
The two other planets are huge, Neptune-sized worlds called Gliese 581b and d (there is no "a", to avoid confusion with the star itself).
The Earth-like planet orbits its sun at a distance of only six million miles or so (our Sun is 93 million miles away), travelling so fast that its "year" only lasts 13 of our days.
The parent star would dominate the view from the surface - a huge red ball of fire that must be a spectacular sight.
It is difficult to speculate what - if any - life there is on the planet. If there is life there it would have to cope with the higher gravity and solar radiation from its sun.
Just because Gliese 581c is habitable does not mean that it is inhabited, but we do know its sun is an ancient star - in fact, it is one of the oldest stars in the galaxy, and extremely stable. If there is life, it has had many billions of years to evolve.
This makes this planet a prime target in the search for life. According to Seth Shostak, of the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence Institute in California, the Gliese system is now a prime target for a radio search. 'We had actually looked at this system before but only for a few minutes. We heard nothing, but now we must look again.'
By 2020 at least one space telescope should be in orbit, with the capability of detecting signs of life on planets orbiting nearby stars. If oxygen or methane (tell-tale biological gases) are found in Gliese 581c's atmosphere, this would be good circumstantial evidence for life.
Dr Malcolm Fridlund, a European Space Agency scientist, said the discovery of Gliese 581c was "an important step" on the road to finding life.
"If this is a rocky planet, it's very likely it will have liquid water on its surface, which means there may also be life."
The real importance is not so much the discovery of this planet itself, but the fact that it shows that Earth-like planets are probably extremely common in the Universe.
There are 200 billion stars in our galaxy alone and many astronomers believe most of these stars have planets.
The fact that almost as soon as we have built a telescope capable of detecting small, earth-like worlds, one turns up right on our cosmic doorstep, shows that statistically, there are probably billions of earths out there.
As Seth Shostak says: "We've never found one close to being like the Earth until now. We are finding that Earth is not such an unusual puppy in the litter of planets."
But are these alien Earths home to life? No one knows. We don't understand how life began on our world, let alone how it could arise anywhere else. There may be an awful lot of bugs and bacteria out there, and only a few worlds with what we would recognise as plants and animals. Or, of course, there may be nothing.
The Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence Institute uses radio telescopes to try to pick up messages sent by alien civilisations.
Interestingly, Gliese 581c is so close to the Earth that if its putative inhabitants only had our level of technology, they could - just about - pick up some of our radio signals, such as the most powerful military transmitters. Quite what would happen if we for our part did receive a signal is unclear.
"There is a protocol, buried away in the United Nations," says Dr Shostak. "The President would be told first, after the signal was confirmed by other observatories. But we couldn't keep such a discovery secret."
It may be some time before we detect any such signals, but it is just possible that today we are closer than ever to finding life in the stars.
I really very surprised that it is that close. In astronomical measurements that is a fly speck away from us. If by any chance they have an advanced civilization, they are now getting our TV signals from shows that were broadcast 20 years ago.
The opposite is also true they are close enough that we would be picking up their old radio and TV signals. So at the moment I would off on any expectations of their being any advanced life forms there.
The opposite is also true they are close enough that we would be picking up their old radio and TV signals. So at the moment I would off on any expectations of their being any advanced life forms there.
Or maybe they are advanced enough to have already discarded TV before we even invented it. When the best thing you have to tell another world about yourself is "I Love Lucy" reruns, it might be best to simply keep silent.
25:36 And the true servants of the Most Merciful are those who walk the earth with humility and when the ignorant address them, they respond with words of peace.
There is no way there is another place that supports life besides earth. There is a reason mankind is living on earth. Their worldy life and hearafter life; worldly life have life spam that was already destine. If a human travels to atleast pluto or jupiter. That human life will not last forever to get there or atleast survive in the space. Space missions to far planets or galaxy is a science fiction not realty.
It's exciting news, but it's also saddening to know that given the limit of modern human technology and the vastness of the universe, we will not find out if this new planet does indeed harbour life in our lifetime or even at all.
Still, it's another opportunity to pause and recognise the sheer greatness of the universe and our complete insignificance. It's good to be humbled.
My partner has a quote in his MSN name. Whether you agree with it or not, I think it's a good line.
"We are nothing but an advanced breed of monkeys on a minor planet of a very average star."
There is no way there is another place that supports life besides earth. There is a reason mankind is living on earth. Their worldy life and hearafter life; worldly life have life spam that was already destine. If a human travels to atleast pluto or jupiter. That human life will not last forever to get there or atleast survive in the space. Space missions to far planets or galaxy is a science fiction not realty.
Travel to other planets within our solar system is within our grasp. the purpose of doing so, I do not know except to increase knowledge.
Beyond our Solar system is impossible with any known technology.
Another thing even if the technology ever does come about, it would be cost prohibitive. Right now the closest know Earth type planet would take 20 years to get to, if travel at the speed of light were possible. That would be a 40 year round trip. any person leaving to make such a trip would have no assurance there would even still be an Earth left to return to, much less being able to return to the same home, family or government. traveling at the speed of light would remove the possibility of radio communications. As the radio signals from Earth would not catch up with them until after they landed and stopped. Then they would be very old and out dated. Another problem is we have no way of knowing if anything we see in space still exists. Looking at that planet through a telescope, we see it as it was 20 years ago, not as how it is today. Who knows the sun it travels around might explode today and we will not know it for another 20 years.
we know that Allah(swt) has the ability to do as He wills. If He so desires to create life forms on other Planets, He will do so. But, we probably will never be able to see it or contact it. Allah(swt) has created much that we will never know or understand. If we will never know or understand, there will never be any need for Allah(swt) to tell us about it.
Our Human minds place too much pride on what we think we know.
man this is so funny i remember a friend that played a prank on me by saying that scientist found a 2nd Earth and i was like WHAT!. I turned the tv on looking for the breaking news and i cudnt find it. Later i find out that it was all a joke Anyway this seems kind of cool, Iam making my way there now so i can claim it.......anyone willing to join me you can have 20% of the planet.....no negotiations!!!!!
Our preperation continued, with our efforts and the efforts of our brothers, for years and years. Through out that time we gathered, observed and waited until the moment to move arrived.
It would take a very, very long time for them to reach it.
In ma opinion, which should be all of ours.....Allah knows best
Our preperation continued, with our efforts and the efforts of our brothers, for years and years. Through out that time we gathered, observed and waited until the moment to move arrived.
Couldnt they just send satellites/robots to see if there's really life there?
By the time it got there many generations of people will have come and died. If some how we could build a space ship capable of traveling 10,000 miles per second, it would take nearly 400 years to reach that planet. Chances are by the time it got there, nobody on earth would even know it would have been sent and stories about it would be passed off as ancient myth.
Is there any type of religious text about another planet with life on it? Or any text saying that this is the only one. I am just wondering what the ramifications to religion would be if there were life on another planet.
"The only thing neccesary for evil to triumph is for good men to do nothing." - E. Burke
"We have just enough religion to hate but not enough to love one another" -Jonathan Swift
Is there any type of religious text about another planet with life on it? Or any text saying that this is the only one. I am just wondering what the ramifications to religion would be if there were life on another planet.
I really don't see where it would be in contradiction with Islamic beliefs. Allah(swt) is capable of anything and there is no reason he had to tell us everything he has done. There is nothing I can find in the Qur'an or Ahadith
that would say that there is no life on other planets or that we on Earth are the only Humans he has created. It is true we are the only Earthlings. Because this is the only planet we call Earth.
Is there any type of religious text about another planet with life on it? Or any text saying that this is the only one. I am just wondering what the ramifications to religion would be if there were life on another planet.
As Woodrow said, it wouldn't appear to contradict any Islamic teachings, which in fact tell us that God created many creatures. New deep sea species are being discovered, for example, but it's not a threat to religion to uncover those previously unknown lifeforms.
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Scientists found another Earth!
Anyway this seems kind of cool, Iam making my way there now so i can claim it.......anyone willing to join me you can have 20% of the planet.....no negotiations!!!!!
Our preperation continued, with our efforts and the efforts of our brothers, for years and years. Through out that time we gathered, observed and waited until the moment to move arrived.
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