Wednesday, April 25, 2007

H2 O, Oh, I'm Hoping....

Astronomers announced yesterday that they have found the most Earth-like planet yet outside of our solar system, with a climate that could support water and life.

"This one is the first one that is at the same time probably rocky, with water, and in a zone close to the star [a sun] where the water could exist in liquid form," said Stephane Udry of the Geneva Observatory in Switzerland.

"We have estimated that the mean temperature of this super-Earth lies between 0 and 40 degrees Celsius [32 to 104 degrees F]," Udry said.

As my loyal readers know, I've been seeking that off-the-beaten-Milky-Way-get-a-way for some time now, and perhaps the lovely Gliese 581c is it!

581c? Is it a non-prophet planet? I hope so. Fundamentalism is just one of the many fun Earth customs I'm fleeing from. 20 light years away? No problem. I've been meaning to catch up on my reading.

I saw an astronomer on CNN quip something along the lines of, "if there was life on this planet, we would have heard from them by now". What? Get real. If it's intellegent life, they're hoping to duck behind their star before we can contact THEM.

Do you blame them?

2 comments:

Unknown said...

since the planet is five times the size of earth, it is likely that you will weigh over 400 pounds there, and the gravity will make you shorter than you already are.

additionally, it is dull, orange sun. how are you going to get your tanning on?

Anonymous said...

Not to mention that, as a vacation destination, you will not be able to drive Thy Beloved Corvette to get there.....