The most Earth-like planet

[nano]

A new planet-hunting technique has detected the most Earth-like planet yet around a star other than our sun, raising hopes of finding a space rock that might support life, astronomers reported on Wednesday.

 

"This is an important breakthrough in the quest to answer the question 'Are we alone?'" said Michael Turner of the National Science Foundation.

 

"The team has discovered the most Earth-like planet yet, and more importantly, has demonstrated the power of a new technique that is sensitive to detecting habitable planets," Turner said in a statement.

 

In the last decade, astronomers have detected more than 160 planets orbiting stars outside our solar system. The vast majority of these have been gas giant planets like Jupiter, which are hostile to life as it is known on Earth.

 

But an international team has detected a cold planet about 5-1/2 times more massive than Earth -- still small enough to be considered Earth-like -- orbiting a star about 20,000 light-years away in the constellation Sagittarius (The Archer), close to the center of the Milky Way.

 

A light-year is about 6 trillion miles (10 trillion km), the distance light travels in a year.

 

To find this new planet -- named OGLE-2005-BLG-390Lb -- the team used a technique called gravitational microlensing.

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I'm always exited the news like this..The illustration was cool

[Clari]

Yay astronomy!

[nano]

Yay astronomy!

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I can Feel the huge excitment

 

[Clari]

Haha!

[Bellamy]

Yay astronomy!

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I can Feel the huge excitment

 

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I don't feel excited to this kind of discovery since long time ago. Cause I find it's just a way astronomers try to get attention from public. Who the hell can get to a planet 20,000 light-years away?

[nano]

I find it interesting..the planet might support life...and that's where my imagination starts to go craaaazy..too many scifi-movies

I used to read lots of books about space, stars and planets and I was so exited that I spend the next days drawing stars and the universe..

 

I don't understand anything about astronomy..all I know is from scifi-movies..and from Mulder and from few books..so I don't know if this discovery is huge or just another way to get to publicity

[Krys]

Yay astronomy!

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I can Feel the huge excitment

 

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I don't feel excited to this kind of discovery since long time ago. Cause I find it's just a way astronomers try to get attention from public. Who the hell can get to a planet 20,000 light-years away?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

if only man can create a spaceship that can use quantum jump...