Thanks to University of California -- Berkeley for this article.
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We are getting ever closer to finding ET. They found 45 targets for possible life making planets and only looked 80 million light years away. The probability of finding life on another planet is astounding.
The life might not be as advanced as we are but it would be cool to study the evolution of a world from the beginning.
I hope they aren't that advanced! Unless they are like ALF, aliens make me nervous!
Maybe they are among us already! :)
I think that we would know if aliens had come to visit us already.
haha. Love it.
There was an article sent to Brian earlier today that discussed the possibility of life on Mars. I wonder if mars is included in their count of 45 planets.
I don't have to try it comes naturally to you guys!
Just kidding, but you did walk into that one really!
Ha ha! I woke up on the wrong side of the bed this morning! I did say I was only joking after all!
mars is earth like in a lot of respects. Most of their targets are probably not exactly the same distance away from their star as the earth is to the sun. I'm sure mars would fit into that category. But the fact is there may well be life on Mars, so Mars could be a target.
Although I don't really know what the overarching aim of the study was. Is it to find similar planets to predict life or not.
I agree Will, but I think the point of the study was to find new earth like planets wasn't it? I could be wrong. That's why I don't think that Mars would have been included in the study. They were looking at other stars besides our sun.
I think I got carried away with the whole alien theme that I was running with.
@Will, Mars is probably much more Earth like than the planets they have discovered, which are all larger and much closer to the Sun. Think super sized Mercury or Venus versus Mars, and I think Mars wins.
Thanks Spizmar! Although I guess you are also making the point that they are less likely to be candidates to support life if the gravitational pull is stronger.
@Will, Don't know if size makes them are better or worse. We have one example of life supporting planet, (earth) and one that is looking like it might be (Mars, methane production). The bigger deal is that they are all too close to their stars and would be too hot for liquid water.
I wonder what the "planet desert" model is all about. I would assume that if the planets are moving inward toward the sun during formation, you would get more planets/bodies closer to the sun...
But I guess that model was considering the planets not getting to close and burning up...
Spizmar- If the planets are too close then there can be no water, that is key here on earth. Although there is life on earth at extreme temperature, so it cannot be ruled out that life could exist on planets closer to their star. The other thing to think about is the size of the star. If the star is smaller than the sun and emits less radiation and heat planets could be closer than earth.
Why am I doing this again?- For the scientists on earth to find these planets they must by definition still be there and not have burned up.
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It's just a bit shorter than Mt. Everest
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