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first rocky exoplanet found that could host life
http://www.newscientist.com/article...ife.html?ref=nf
| quote: | The planet orbits a dim red dwarf star 20 light years from Earth called Gliese 581. Four planets were already known around the star, with two lying near the inner and outer edges of the habitable zone, where liquid water – and therefore potentially life – could exist on its surface.
One of those, which travels on a 13-day orbit, seems too hot for liquid water. The other, on a 67-day orbit, may be just warm enough for liquid water, but its status is not completely settled, says Kasting. Opinions "may continue to swing back and forth because it is hovering right near the outer edge", he says.
The newly found "Goldilocks" planet, called Gliese 581 g, lies in between the hot and cold ones. "You're smack dab in the middle of the habitable zone, so that's perfect," says Kasting, who has studied the two planets on the zone's edges.
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| quote: | Conditions on the planet would be very different from those on Earth. The host star is a low-mass red dwarf that is just 1 per cent as bright as the sun.
Because it puts out so little light and warmth, its habitable zone lies much closer in than does the sun's. At such tight distances, planets in the zone experience strong gravitational tugs from the star that probably slow their rotation over time, until they become "locked" with one side always facing the star, just as the moon always keeps the same face pointed towards Earth.
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