January 31, 2008
The most "earthlike" exoplanet found to date
is Gliese 581c, the smallest planet yet discovered in the habitable zone of another star, Gliese 581, which is a Red Dwarf star. Given that it is in the habitable zone, what would conditions be like on that planet?
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Tantalising.
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If it is 95 C, that's 203 F surface temperature. Some bacteria (found in geysers) can stand up to that and more. Isaac Asimov describes a more habitable planet that orbits a brown dwarf behind a dust cloud between earth and Alpha Centauri in his book, Nemesis . Even so, he imagined that bacteria would be the dominant life form, and in this case they share a telepathic group mind!
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O brave new wworld, that has such prokaryotes in't!
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Well, at least you know there'll be a Starbucks somewhere
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An exoplanet whose atmosphere ripples with intense winds
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Yup, that's what it's like here in Mtn Home. Constant winds. Took the phone line down the other day, and I lost the intarwebbs. Oh noes!