Scientists spot nearby 'super-Earth'

(CNN) -- Astronomers announced this week they found a water-rich and relatively nearby planet that's similar in size to Earth.

While the planet probably has too thick of an atmosphere and is too hot to support life similar to that found on Earth, the discovery is being heralded as a major breakthrough in humanity's search for life on other planets.

"The big excitement is that we have found a watery world orbiting a very nearby and very small star," said David Charbonneau, a Harvard professor of astronomy and lead author of an article on the discovery, which appeared this week in the journal Nature.

The planet, named GJ 1214b, is 2.7 times as large as Earth and orbits a star much smaller and less luminous than our sun. That's significant, Charbonneau said, because for many years, astronomers assumed that planets only would be found orbiting stars that are similar in size to the sun.

Because of that assumption, researchers didn't spend much time looking for planets circling small stars, he said. The discovery of this "watery world" helps debunk the notion that Earth-like planets could form only in conditions similar to those in our solar system.

"Nature is just far more inventive in making planets than we were imagining," he said.

In a way, the newly discovered planet was sitting right in front of astronomers' faces, just waiting for them to look. Instead of using high-powered telescopes attached to satellites, they spotted the planet using an amateur-sized, 16-inch telescope on the ground.

There were no technological reasons the discovery couldn't have happened long ago, Charbonneau said.

The planet is also rather near to our solar system -- only about 40 light-years away.

Planet GJ 1214b is classified as a "super-Earth" because it is between one and 10 times as large as Earth. Scientists have known about the existence of super-Earths for only a couple of years. Most planets discovered by astronomers have been gassy giants that are much more similar to Jupiter than to Earth.

Charbonneau said it's unlikely that any life on the newly discovered planet would be similar to life on Earth, but he didn't discount the idea entirely.

"This planet probably does have liquid water," he said.

http://i.cdn.turner.com/cnn/2009/TEC...ery/t1larg.jpg

This illustration shows how the newly discovered planet may look orbiting its nearby star, which is smaller than Earth's sun

so thats the planet were going to when 2012 happens >.>

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Originally Posted by Jessin342

so thats the planet were going to when 2012 happens >.>

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Didn't you read ? The atmosphere is to thick and the temperature to high to support human life.

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Originally Posted by WulfgarXX

Didn't you read ? The atmosphere is to thick and the temperature to high to support human life.

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Let's invent something to shield us from the thick atmosphere and the high temperature. Scientists, go on!

There will be much more research needed in order to approach this "super-earth" which is only 232 trillion miles (aka 40 light-years) away from us.

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Originally Posted by Jessin342
so thats the planet were going to when 2012 happens

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Nothing is going to happen when 2012 comes

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Originally Posted by Neroez
Let's invent something to shield us from the thick atmosphere and the high temperature. Scientists, go on!

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I don't think things like that will comes in the near future O.o

Wow this is great news, even though the planet is very far. Astronomers will be looking in a new way from now on...

- Captain Scrat

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Originally Posted by Neroez

Let's invent something to shield us from the thick atmosphere and the high temperature. Scientists, go on!

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If we could do that, don't you think 2012 wouldn't be a threat? One of the things scientists predict is the sun letting off some sort of a mega solar flare which will scorch the Earths surface.

The west coast is running out of water due to droughts and soon we need to start using water from other planets to support us.

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Originally Posted by Wilsongb10

The west coast is running out of water due to droughts and soon we need to start using water from other planets to support us.

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Really? I thought it was due to the rich not being satisfied with the jacuzzis' they have. :scared:

Gesh...so many believe in something that stupid ?

You can't predict the future. 2012 doomsday ? load of bullshit.

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Originally Posted by WulfgarXX

Gesh...so many believe in something that stupid ?

You can't predict the future. 2012 doomsday ? load of bullshit.

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No, but you can read instruments that monitor the suns solar activity and make predictions from it. o.0

hmm, that planet could be a hold of marshions for the pope to preach to.

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Originally Posted by WulfgarXX

Gesh...so many believe in something that stupid ?

You can't predict the future. 2012 doomsday ? load of bullshit.

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Actualy doesnt sound like BS, here where i live never had the wind storms that now come often, and the clear sky suddenly become cloudy and some times storms or lighting storms.

But the point is, the planet isnt the same as 10 years ago, the weather is unstable.

I find it kinda humorous how people get so excited over these things. It'll take years simply to find out anything about this planet.

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Originally Posted by Nando21

Actualy doesnt sound like BS, here where i live never had the wind storms that now come often, and the clear sky suddenly become cloudy and some times storms or lighting storms.

But the point is, the planet isnt the same as 10 years ago, the weather is unstable.

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And you think that's because of some mystical 2012 voodoo shit?

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Originally Posted by Wilsongb10

The west coast is running out of water due to droughts and soon we need to start using water from other planets to support us.

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Running out of water...

Why not take from the sea? theres plenty of water there,

yes i know its not drinkable, but desalination plants do exist ;D

besides.. i dont think we could bring water from that planet, or any other, to ours.


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That star just made me realize how big is the sun.

Link to source:
http://www.cnn.com/2009/TECH/12/16/s...ery/index.html


Great discovery, that's all I got to say.

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Originally Posted by •╩•andy•╩•

That star just made me realize how big is the sun.

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http://i47.tinypic.com/t8kbas.jpg

You know what I love about this the most?

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Originally Posted by CNN.com

The discovery of this "watery world" helps debunk the notion that Earth-like planets could form only in conditions similar to those in our solar system.

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When I was in high-school, I got into a week long debate with my Astronomy teacher because she insisted life outside of Earth is impossible because another solar system would have to be identical to ours. There would have to be a 'Venus' and 'Saturn' to pull away most dangerous meteors from deep space. There would have to be a 'Sun', the same size as ours, to hold all the planets in perfect orbit. She would go on and on, denying any possibility because of "statistics being too low". Yes, I know this doesn't prove there is life, but this proves that it is very possible to sustain life in other planets. If this planet does in fact have water, it holds 2 elements. Hydrogen and Oxygen. With those two elements, it is very possible for a life of some kind, be it aquatic or not, to survive. I'm friggin ecstatic about this. I'm not saying there's E.T. out there, but I believe it's physically impossible for Earth to be the only planet that has life. I think it's rather ignorant to claim so, when it's been estimated that there are millions of galaxies, billions of stars (which could be their own solar systems) and millions of planets out there.

Our sun is really really small, what you talkin bout :o.

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Originally Posted by jMerliN

Our sun is really really small, what you talkin bout :o.

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No kidding. What are you talking about? Who said anything about our sun being big? Our sun is a yellow dwarf star. It is nothing in size compared to other stars.

Here is some information on stars.

http://www.enchantedlearning.com/sub...tartypes.shtml

Our sun is a type G, while the biggest known is a type O, or a "Very luminous supergiant".

Maybe the intelligence on that planet already knew Earth existed, or maybe, there's no life on that planet at all.

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Originally Posted by Kyokyonos

Maybe the intelligence on that planet already knew Earth existed, or maybe, there's no life on that planet at all.

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No one said there was life. What I said was it basically proves life can exist outside of Earth.

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Originally Posted by bboy242

When I was in high-school, I got into a week long debate with my Astronomy teacher because she insisted life outside of Earth is impossible because another solar system would have to be identical to ours. There would have to be a 'Venus' and 'Saturn' to pull away most dangerous meteors from deep space. There would have to be a 'Sun', the same size as ours, to hold all the planets in perfect orbit. She would go on and on, denying any possibility because of "statistics being too low".

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I'm glad you disagreed with her. Mathematics laughs at her. It's also not statistics, it's probability, but in any case, she probably doesn't know any more probability than some basic combinatorics and even then, she'd probably get that wrong too.