Search This Blog

Tuesday, October 5, 2010

Recent discoveries in deep space...

It took some time but astronomers have finally found an earth like planet circling another star. The planet which orbits a star they have called Gliese 581 (not very imaginative people those astronomers) is located a mere eleven light years away. Just around the block in astronomical terms. (If you left now traveling at the speed of light you would get there around 2121 C.E. or A.D. for those of you who still base your calendars on the birth and death of Christ.) It is a little strange to us here at The Crazy that scientists who can't think up a decent name for a planet have got a pretty nifty name for the orbit that is favorable to liquid water, and therefore favorable to life. They call that orbit the Goldilocks zone, (not too hot, not too cold) Earth orbits in the Goldilocks Zone of our sun. Gliese 581 has a planet which orbits around it at the perfect distance to support liquid water. Actually as Gliese 581 (what a mouthful) is a Red Dwarf and therefor cooler than our sun, planet G of Gliese 581 orbits much closer than our earth to our sun, (A full orbit is 39 days, which means of course that a year on Gliese 581 G is only a little over a month long.)
But Astronomers say that the planet which always has one side pointed toward it's sun would be cold on one side, hot on the other, and perfect in between. (Could you imagine living on a planet where it was shirtsleeve weather forever?) Astronomers have also found 5 other planets orbiting Gliese 581 which they have named e,b,c,d and f, (those clever Astronomers and their wacky alphabet) Planet G orbits in between planet c and d. (Which seems to show that these Astronomers are not only unimaginative but dyslexic as well.) Just a quick note to let you know what's going on in the cosmos. Ciao for now.