. Energy News .




.
EXO WORLDS
Earth-like planets feature in new survey
by Staff Writers
Washington (AFP) Dec 5, 2011


Tired of life on Earth? There may be other options, according to a catalog released on Monday of planets and moons that could have the right conditions to support life, planetary scientists said.

A total of 47 exoplanets and exomoons are potential habitable candidates, according to the online ranking of bodies outside our solar system by the Planetary Habitability Laboratory (PHL) of the University of Puerto Rico at Arecibo.

Two of the exoplanets are confirmed to have the right distance from their star to support water, plus a suitable temperature and atmosphere to support life.

But be warned, it would take Earthlings quite a long trip to get there.

One of the "marginally Earth-like" planets, Gliese 581d, is 20 light years from Earth, and the other, HD 85512b, is 36 light years away.

They are among the 700 exoplanets that have been detected and confirmed by missions such as NASA Kepler space telescope.

The Habitable Exoplanets Catalog (HEC), available online at http://phl.upr.edu, is the first to classify exoplanets and exomoons them according to their habitability in a somewhat user-friendly format.

The rankings give scientists "the ability to compare exoplanets from best to worst candidates for life," said says Abel Mendez, director of the PHL and principal investigator of the project.

Proposed future missions, such as the NASA Terrestrial Planet Finder (TPF), would be needed to confirm the suitability for life of the other 45 candidates identified in the catalog.

"I hope this database will help increase interest in building a big space-based telescope to observe exoplanets directly and look for possible signatures of life," said Jim Kasting, an expert on planetary habitability science from Penn State.

Kepler is NASA's first mission in search of Earth-like planets orbiting suns similar to ours.

It launched in 2009, equipped with the largest camera ever sent into space -- a 95-megapixel array of charge-coupled devices -- and is expected to continue sending information back to Earth until at least November 2012.

The space telescope is searching for planets as small as Earth, including those orbiting stars in a warm, habitable zone where liquid water could exist on the surface of the planet.

Related Links
Lands Beyond Beyond - extra solar planets - news and science
Life Beyond Earth




.
.
Get Our Free Newsletters Via Email
...
Buy Advertising Editorial Enquiries




.

. Comment on this article via your Facebook, Yahoo, AOL, Hotmail login.

Share this article via these popular social media networks
del.icio.usdel.icio.us DiggDigg RedditReddit GoogleGoogle



EXO WORLDS
Habitable Does not Mean 'Earth-Like'
Seattle WA (SPX) Nov 24, 2011
Within the next few years, the number of planets discovered in orbits around distant stars will likely reach several thousand or more. But even as our list of these newly discovered "exoplanets" grows ever-longer, the search for life beyond our solar system will likely focus much more narrowly on the relatively few of these new worlds which exhibit the most Earth-like of conditions. For mu ... read more


EXO WORLDS
NASA Satellite Confirms Sharp Decline in Pollution from US Coal Power Plants

China launches remote-sensing satellite Yaogan XIII

Texas Drought Visible in New National Groundwater Maps

APL Proposes First Global Orbital Observation Program

EXO WORLDS
China launches 10th satellite for independent navigation system

Authorities Gauge Impact of Europe's Galileo Navigation Satellite System

Russia's Glonass-M satellite put into orbit

ITT Exelis and Chronos develop offerings for the Interference, Detection and Mitigation market

EXO WORLDS
Palm planters blamed for Borneo monkey's decline

Madagascar fishermen protect mangroves to save jobs

Mozambique's new forests may not be as green as they seem

Brazil says Amazon deforestation down to lowest level

EXO WORLDS
US Navy in big biofuel purchase

E. Coli Bacteria Engineered to Eat Switchgrass and Make Transportation Fuels

OSU study questions cost-effectiveness of biofuels and their ability to cut fossil fuel use

Mast from classic racing yacht holds one of the keys to sustainable biofuels

EXO WORLDS
SolarStrong moves forward without government backing

Could CIGS hold the key to solar manufacturers' survival?

Oerlikon Solar Initiative Could See Lower Module Production Costs

Canadian Solar supplies 9MW power plant in Spain

EXO WORLDS
Enel: More new wind capacity in Iberia

AREVA Wind M5000-135 offshore turbine evolves proven M5000 platform

New Bladed link to offshore code checking tools

Suzlon revs up wind power

EXO WORLDS
Four trapped miners found dead in China: Govt

Five rescued from collapsed Chinese mine

Coal mine collapse traps 12 in China

Death toll in China mine blast rises to 34

EXO WORLDS
China arrests 600 in huge child trafficking bust

Wife of Australian jailed in China has cancer

Fear of fire stalks Hong Kong's cubicle dwellers

China web users criticise new state TV boss


.

The content herein, unless otherwise known to be public domain, are Copyright 1995-2012 - Space Media Network. AFP and UPI Wire Stories are copyright Agence France-Presse and United Press International. ESA Portal Reports are copyright European Space Agency. All NASA sourced material is public domain. Additional copyrights may apply in whole or part to other bona fide parties. Advertising does not imply endorsement,agreement or approval of any opinions, statements or information provided by Space Media Network on any Web page published or hosted by Space Media Network. Privacy Statement