Another Earth?

[Revolution]

WASHINGTON – Astronomers say they have for the first time spotted a planet beyond our own in what is sometimes called the Goldilocks zone for life: Not too hot, not too cold. Juuuust right.

Not too far from its star, not too close. So it could contain liquid water. The planet itself is neither too big nor too small for the proper surface, gravity and atmosphere.

It's just right. Just like Earth.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100929/ap_on_sc/us_sci_new_earths

I don't wnt to put to much into this right away, but this looks great. The only problem is getting our population ther, and starting over. Assuming that all the climate, water, etc issues are indeed inhabitable for human life.

I'd certainly be willing to aid in populating the new planet. 

[Thor]

Since you're not a liberal, we might just allow you to remain in the gene pool......

But seriously........ -42 to 10°F ?? I wonder if this belongs to the Andorians.....??

[LC EFA]

Apparently the area right around the "equator" right between the night / day gap should be habitable. Because the planet doesn't turn around it's own axis all that much that area is fairly constant. The reason they have such a wide average temperature is that half the planet is perpetually dark and thus cold while the other half is perpetually in the sun and probably rather toasty.

[Carl]

Obviously there can be life of some form or variety that is completly unknown to us so the headline to the article is practically a given.
Maybe I am taking it wrong but somehow it seemed that the suggestion was Earthlike life was possible but after this paragraph...

But there are still many unanswered questions about this strange planet. It is about three times the mass of Earth, slightly larger in width and much closer to its star — 14 million miles away versus 93 million. It's so close to its version of the sun that it orbits every 37 days. And it doesn't rotate much, so one side is almost always bright, the other dark.

Temperatures can be as hot as 160 degrees or as frigid as 25 degrees below zero, but in between — in the land of constant sunrise — it would be "shirt-sleeve weather," said co-discoverer Steven Vogt of the University of California at Santa Cruz.

...that seems to be an optimistic but unrealistic conclusion.
Wouldn`t it make for a gravity issue that no life existing on earth could deal with?

Interested in thoughts of those much more scientifically educated then I can claim to be.

[DumbAss Tanker]

EARTH FIRST
THEN we strip mine the other planets.

 

[Eupher]

Obviously there can be life of some form or variety that is completly unknown to us so the headline to the article is practically a given.
Maybe I am taking it wrong but somehow it seemed that the suggestion was Earthlike life was possible but after this paragraph...

...that seems to be an optimistic but unrealistic conclusion.
Wouldn`t it make for a gravity issue that no life existing on earth could deal with?

Interested in thoughts of those much more scientifically educated then I can claim to be.

Yeah, it seems that if the planet has 3 times the mass of earth, we'd weigh 3 times as much there than here. Whoa, if I wasn't a candidate for the fat boy program before, I sure as hell would be there! 

[thundley4]

The temperature range does allow for the possibility of liquid water, which could give it a chance of some form of life though.  Anything from there would have more strength on earth.

[DefiantSix]

Yeah, it seems that if the planet has 3 times the mass of earth, we'd weigh 3 times as much there than here. Whoa, if I wasn't a candidate for the fat boy program before, I sure as hell would be there! 

Yeah, but think of how ripped you'd get slogging around in 3 gees.  You'd look like you were fresh out of 'muscle puffs' back in basic again. 

[DumbAss Tanker]

The planet may be three times the size of Earth, but apparently it is not nearly as dense, rocky rather than built around a molten nickel-iron core, so speculation is that the gravity is not greatly different from here.

This also means the planet would be tectonically inactive, and with a trivial magnetic field to protect it from solar effects (However, it orbits a red dwarf, so I believe those would be much less than we experience).  It is quite possible that life once existed on the planet, whether it still hangs on is a lot more iffy.   

[TVDOC]

I guess the problem that I have with it is...."it doesn't rotate much......"  This implies that it does rotate, albeit very slowly, which could mean that the temperate zone is constantly slowly moving........I suppose a winter (or summer) that is several decades long might appeal to some.........or colonists could revert to a nomadic life as they did eons ago......

doc

[RightCoast]

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100929/ap_on_sc/us_sci_new_earths

I don't wnt to put to much into this right away, but this looks great. The only problem is getting HALF our population ther, and starting over. Assuming that all the climate, water, etc issues are indeed inhabitable for human life.

I'd certainly be willing to aid in populating the new planet. 

fixt

[Carl]

I guess the problem that I have with it is...."it doesn't rotate much......"  This implies that it does rotate, albeit very slowly, which could mean that the temperate zone is constantly slowly moving........I suppose a winter (or summer) that is several decades long might appeal to some.........or colonists could revert to a nomadic life as they did eons ago......

doc

Perhaps slowly drifting but also staying constant for substantial lengths of time.
Sustaining life as we are familiar with doesn`t just require a presence of fresh water but the ability of the atmosphere to distribute it.
Wouldn`t "weather" as we see it be nearly impossible under those conditions or am I (pun intended) all wet?

[Revolution]

Yeah, it seems that if the planet has 3 times the mass of earth, we'd weigh 3 times as much there than here. Whoa, if I wasn't a candidate for the fat boy program before, I sure as hell would be there! 

I'm in favor!

[DumbAss Tanker]

I guess the problem that I have with it is...."it doesn't rotate much......"  This implies that it does rotate, albeit very slowly, which could mean that the temperate zone is constantly slowly moving........I suppose a winter (or summer) that is several decades long might appeal to some.........or colonists could revert to a nomadic life as they did eons ago......

doc

I think it might be completely tide-locked, the way I read the article I found on it...i.e., it does rotate, once every orbital cycle, meaning the same side constantly faced its mother star.  Any colonization would pretty much be in tunnels under the surface, and probably in the twilight band at that.

[Revolution]

I know it won't happen/isn't too feasible, and all that, but purely for a Sci-Fi point of view, think about a tunnel society. Like if a portion of us moved up there, and actually did it.

Sounds pretty badass to me, actually. We'd have to adapt, of course, but it'd be something new. A new challenge.

[ironhorsedriver]

What's really neat about this is that they are finally finding rocky planets. It's looking like solar systems are pretty common out there.

[DumbAss Tanker]

I know it won't happen/isn't too feasible, and all that, but purely for a Sci-Fi point of view, think about a tunnel society. Like if a portion of us moved up there, and actually did it.

Sounds pretty badass to me, actually. We'd have to adapt, of course, but it'd be something new. A new challenge.

Sounds kinda like a first-person shooter back-story, doesn't it?

[Revolution]

Yeah, a little bit. If they haven't already, they could make a PS3 about it.