With ever improving technology, astronomers are now able to explore the furthest reaches of our universe, mapping the continuing expansion of dark matter and detecting light from far-flung planets beyond our solar system.
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The theory that there may be life on other planets both in our solar system and beyond seems to gain more credibility on an almost weekly basis. The latest reports from the Hubble telescope indicate that definite signs of water have been discovered on five exoplanets.
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Three more Earth-like planets have been discovered by the Kepler Telescope, and it is becoming clear to scientists that there are Earth-like planets "everywhere," according to Kepler scientist Tom Barclay. Two of the planets are 1,200 light years away, and the other is 2,700 light years distant.
Kepler 62f and Kepler 62e are the closest to Earth-like. They both orbit a somewhat dimmer star than our own in the constellation Lyra, 1,200 light years away. Traveling at 99% of the speed of light, a starship would pass one day for every year that would pass on Earth. Such a ship could reach the newly discovered solar system in about 6 ship years, but more than a millennium would pass on Earth.
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Astronomers have discovered another potentially habitable planet–that’s 7 times the mass of Earth. Six planets orbit dwarf star HD 40307g, and one of them is believed have the potential to support human life.
The planet seems to be rotating on its own axis, instead of having one face permanently turned toward its sun, meaning it has an Earth-like day and night cycle. This is a major indicator of potential life. Also, it orbits at a distance of 55.8 million miles from its sun, which puts it in its host star’s habitable zone, where liquid water can exist on a planet’s surface.
It’s close by (space travel-wise, anyway)–only 44 light years away. It’s so close that astronomers may be able to spy on it with telescopes.
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