The Search for Life, Super Earth

April 25: Astronomers have discovered a planet outside the solar system that is potentially habitable. It is for the first time that a planet with such close identity with earth has been discovered. The planet called â??Super Earthâ?? is believed to be similar in size and conditions as prevails on Earth. With that the possibility of life on other planets has taken a rebirth, scientists said on Wednesday. With temperatures observed as similar to that observed on earth, the researchers described the discovery as a big step in the search for the â??life in the universe.â??

The size of this planet is said to be around one and a half times the size of earth but five times more massive and with temperatures that would permit liquid water. It is considered to be a major landmark in the history of astronomy as this is the first planet outside the solar system that meets those standards.

The discovery of this planet was made possible with the help of European Southern Observatory's telescope, in La Silla, Chile. It was discovered using a telescope that splits light to find wobbles in different wave lengths. Those wobbles reveal the existence of other worlds.

"We have estimated that the mean temperature of the Super-Earth lies between zero and 40 degrees Celsius, and water would be in liquid form," said Stephane Udry of the Geneva Observatory. "Models predict that the planet should either be rocky like our Earth or covered with oceans."

The planet is located around a star known as the Gliese 581, one among the 100 closest stars to the Sun and about 20.5 light years from Earth's solar system. Though the planet is much closer to its star than the earth is to Sun, conditions are similar because the Gliese 581, a red dwarf, is smaller and colder. One year lasts only 13 days on the planet.

"Red dwarfs are ideal targets for the search of such planets because they emit less light, and the habitable zone is much closer to them than it is around the Sun," said Xavier Bonfils of Lisbon University.
Udry figures the red dwarf star would hang in the sky at a size 20 times larger than our moon. And it's likely, but still unknown, if the planet does rotate, so one side would always be sunlit and the other dark.

Xavier Delfosse of Grenoble University in France said that there is a possibility of availability of liquid water on the planet which is essential for the existence of life.

The newly found planet could inhabit life and will definitely be a target of future space missions to find extra-terrestrial life. With the discovery of this planet one can imagine the growing interest and attention of scientists as well as inhabitants of this planet to know about its details.