The Search for Superhabitable Earths Moves Forward

The search for the superhabitable earth is on.  It was not long ago commenting that there may be many earths out there would get you laughed out of any serious conference.  Scientists are now on the hunt for the super earth that may just be more habitable than our own planet. They believe they have found the place in space where they may be located. 

NASA is launching a new space telescope in the next few years that will better test the composition of planets. At present, we can only determine the outer atmosphere and whether or not they are in the habitable zone. New telescopes may actually be able to get some sense of what is under the initial atmospheric shell. 

We may also look at a private enterprise to colonize Mars. The goal is to send individuals on a one-way trip in one of the very first colonization efforts of another planet. Mars has extreme conditions but if the colony is successful it could start as a model for other locations. 

No one knows where all of this will lead in the future. Technology is making long distance space flight possible even though the costs can be excessive.  If we view how technology and our efforts have changed over the past five decades, we should be astounded by the possibilities. As we continue to learn and develop, what was once seen as Sci-Fi is all too real. 

Heller, R. & Armstrong, J. (2014). Superhabitable worlds. Astrobiology. Retrieved  January 19^th from http://arxiv.org/abs/1401.2392

Three Habitable Planets Found

Three possible habitable planets recently showed up on the galactic radar in the past week. Guillem Anglada-Escudé of the University of Göttingen in Germany indicated that they have seen the signals before but they may have been hidden in other data (Fox News, 2013). Using multiple data measurements the researchers were able to identify the stars and their nature. 

The solar system called Gleise 667C is much like our current solar system with 7 planets of which three are believed to be Super Earths. This means that they have water like Earth but is much larger. The ability of humans to live on such planets or whether they already contain life is unknown. However, someday out there in infinite space will be a planet we may be able to colonize. 

The solar system is also 22 light years away from us. This means that it is closer to use than originally believed. Many scientists have been using high powered telescopes to watch plants from further systems. Having habitable planets in our neighborhood is a benefit to us. It may someday be possible to finding something we can work with. 

One has to wonder if these concepts are simply a matter of long math problems. Let us assume that the chance of the Earth to be formed is a random event such as one in a billion or one in a trillion. This would mean that if space is infinite than there must be an infinite amount of earths out there just waiting for us to discover. It would mean that these would be randomly located based upon their probability. Who knows?

If one were sitting on the newly discovered planets they would see two suns during the day and would see these stars as about the strength of the moon during the nighttime. Because these planets are in the habitable zone they may have liquid water. Too far away and it would freeze and too close it would dissipate. When the star is dimmer than the sun the distance issue can change the habitable orbit width. 

The Atlantic

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