In one of the breath taking discoveries scientists today found an earth like planet named 581 c, in Gliese 581 star system 120 trillion miles away. The new star system is just 20.5 light years away, making Gliese 581 one of the 100 closest stars to Earth. http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070425/ap_on_sc/habitable_planet
Key Facts – Why the new planet is potentially habitable?
- Earth Like – Similar in shape and size – only 1.5 times bigger than our planet
- Gravity is just 1.5 times more
- Average temperature is between 32 and 104 – main cause of celebrations among the scientist community
- Probability of water in liquid form – must for life according to scientists
These are important findings, and the fact that the planet is very similar to earth in few cases, makes a high probability of finding life. But this has also triggered a thought in me – why do we have to look earth like planets only for life. Just because such planets may have high probability of life doesn’t mean that other planets may not have life at all.
Why does any planet have to be earth like to have life? From all we know is the life evolved on earth that may be the only reason, but it should not stop us thinking that life could not evolve in any other conditions. Life on earth has evolved from a single cell to humans (which I doubt has evolved on its own). Life has evolved differently in each part of the world – considering that fact that even we humans do not look similar across the planet – black in Africa, whites in Europe tall and heavy in America and small in China. People have evolved differently in different parts of the world. We would have evolved differently if the gravity on the planet was more. Consider the life in Antarctic – there is water everywhere, but nothing to drink because it is in the form of ice. Few of you shall be surprised to know that when female penguins lay eggs, it is the male who hatches them. The male king penguin survives the six month standing at one place, with the egg beneath, without eating anything except the snow. Life seems to survive on earth on toughest of conditions. So why can’t life evolve in any other planet with different conditions.
All living beings on earth breathe oxygen, except plants. So if there is this difference on earth itself, then why can’t we consider that that living beings on any other planet can breathe something else. There are 10 billion trillion (10^22) planets in the universe (http://alienworld.wordpress.com/2007/02/16/are-we-alone-in-this-universe/). Out of these scientist have only discovered 220 planets outside solar system. So the probability of finding extraterrestrial life is still high.
Happy searching!!
