Astronomers have discovered a new planet in a nearby section of space. Scientists discover new planets all the time, so the discovery isn’t particularly exciting in and of itself. What’s exciting is that the planet, named Gliese 581G, is very earth-like and could potentially be able to support life.
Gliese 581G orbits a red drawf star, just like our earth does. It’s in a place that astronomers call the “Goldilocks zone,” which means that it’s close enough to its sun that it has the right gravity and temperature to support life. In fact, it’s quite possible that Gliese 581G could be habitable by humans.
Before you start packing your bags, you need to know that Gliese 581G is 20 light years from earth, in the Libra constellation. This is actually considered to be extremely close to earth, at least on a galactic scale. It’s too far for anyone currently alive to reach, however. Using today’s best technology, it would take at least several hundred years to get to Gliese 581G.
That said, there’s still a lot of exciting stuff that we can learn about Gliese 581G while we’re all still alive. We can learn more about the environmental conditions on the planet’s surface. We can look for other similar planets nearby. We can even attempt to send a message to the planet. In fact, we may have already sent a message. When humans invented radio waves, we not only sent them through the air to locations on earth, but they also got sent into space. In fact, every radio program and TV show that has ever been broadcast over the air is currently flying out into the universe in all directions. Maybe they’ll be picked up by the creatures on a planet like Gliese 581G some day.
Pretty cool, huh?
Here’s a scientist explaining some more details about this awesome new planet we’ve discovered:
