Billions of Habitable Planets in the Milky Way

Scientists have discovered that at least 100 so-called "Super Earths" orbiting Red Dwarf stars in the "habitable zone" may have life.

And where there is water that can exist on the surface of a world, then there is the chance for life there.

Dr. Xavier Bonfils, from Grenoble University in France, who lead the international team researching the red dwarfs/super Earths said the following: "Because red dwarfs are so common - there are about 160 billion of them in the Milky Way - this leads us to the astonishing result that there are tens of billions of these planets in our galaxy alone." end quote.

The international team looked at 102 red dwarfs using the European Southern Observatory's 3.6 meter telescope located at La Silla, Chile.

Quoting the article:  A total of nine super-Earths - planets with masses between one and 10 times that of Earth - were found. Two were located within the habitable zones of the stars Gliese 581 and Gliese 667 C. end quote.

THe team also discovered that giant planets like Jupiter or Saturn were rare around red dwarfs.  Less than 12 percent were expected to have such "gas giants."

ANd now for the most important bit of news from this news article.  The science team estimates there are about 100 habitable zone planets within 30 ligh years of Earth.

Check out the link below to view the entire article.



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1. Telegraph.co.uk. "New 'life in space' hope after billions of 'habitable planets' found in Milky Way" by Telegraph writers(unnamed). March 28, 2012. (http://www.telegraph.co.uk/science/space/9170683/New-life-in-space-hope-after-billions-of-habitable-planets-found-in-Milky-Way.html).

Earth Similarity Index Released

A new paper has been released in the journal Astrobiology about how habitable nearby worlds would be. There are actually two indexes. First one is called: Earth Similarity Index (ESI) and the second one is the Planetary Habitability Index (PHI).

The most habitable alien worlds discovered so far that could harbour extraterrestrial life. Worlds such as Saturn's moon Titan and the exoplanet Gliese 581-g which is 20.5 light-years away in the constellation Libra.

Co-author Dr. Dirk Schulze-Makuch of Washington State University said the following: "The first question is whether Earth-like conditions can be found on other worlds, since we know empirically that those conditions could harbour life. The second question is whether conditions exist on exoplanets that suggest the possibility of other forms of life, whether known to us or not."

The ESI rating comes from several factors such as size, density, and distance from the parent star. The PHI looks at different set of factors like if the world has a rocky or frozen surface, has an atmosphere or a magnetic field. PHI also takes into account chemistry such as if organic compounds are present. And if liquid solvents are available for vital chemical reactions.

Earth Similarity Index (ESI)

Earth - 1.00

Gliese 581g - 0.89

Gliese 581d - 0.74

Gliese 581c - 0.70

Mercury - 0.60Mars - 0.70

HD 69830 d - 0.60

55 Cnc c - 0.56

Moon - 0.56

Gliese 581e - 0.53

The Gliese 581 system has been well studied by astronomers and comprises four or five planets orbiting a red dwarf star. Gliese 581g, Gliese 581d, and Gliese 581c come is first, second, and third, place on the ESI after Earth.

The next exo-planet on the list is HD 69830d. This is a Neptune-size world located in the constellation Puppis because it lies in what is known as the "Goldilocks Zone." This is a area around a parent star where surface temperatures are neither too hot nor too cold for life.

Planetary Habitability Index (PHI)

Titan - 0.64

Mars - 0.59

Europa - 0.49

Gliese 581g - 0.45

Gliese 581d - 0.43

Gliese 581c - 0.41

Jupiter - 0.37

Saturn - 0.37

Venus - 0.37

Enceladus - 0.35

The PHI produced different results with Saturn's moon Titan scoring at the top with a 0.64 followed by Mars (0.59) and Jupiter's moon Europa (0.47) for its subsurface water ocean that is thought to be heated by tidal flexing.

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Ref.

1. BBC. "Most liveable alien worlds ranked" by ( http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-15863549 ).

2. Liebertonline. Astrobiology > A Two-Tiered Approach to Assessing the Habitability of Exoplanets. ( http://www.liebertonline.com/doi/abs/10.1089/ast.2010.0592 ).

NASA Kepler Mission Discovered Earth Size Worlds

From Foxnews.com comes this article quoted in its entirety.

Scientists celebrated Sunday after finding more than 700 suspected new planets -- including up to 140 similar in size to Earth -- in just six weeks of using a powerful new space observatory.

Early results from NASA’s Kepler Mission, a small satellite observing deep space, suggested planets like Earth were far more common than previously thought.

Past discoveries suggested most planets outside our solar system were gas giants such as Jupiter and Saturn -- but the new evidence tipped the balance in favor of solid worlds.

Astronomers said the discovery meant the chances of eventually finding truly Earth-like planets capable of sustaining life rose sharply.

NASA so far formally announced only five new exoplanets -- those outside our solar system -- from the mission because its scientists were still analyzing Kepler’s finds to confirm they are actually planets.

“The figures suggest our galaxy, the Milky Way [which has more than 100 billion stars] will contain 100 million habitable planets, and soon we will be identifying the first of them,” said Dimitar Sasselov, professor of astronomy at Harvard University and a scientist on the Kepler Mission. "There is a lot more work we need to do with this, but the statistical result is loud and clear, and it is that planets like our own Earth are out there."

End quote.

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Ref.

Foxnews.com. July 25, 2010. "NASA's Deep Space Camera Locates Host of 'Earths'" (http://www.foxnews.com/scitech/2010/07/25/nasas-deep-space-camera-locates-host-earths/?test=latestnews).

Asteroid 24 Themis may have frost on it.

Asteroid 24 Themis, a 100 mile wide lone rock between Mars and Jupiter in the asteroid belt. But even more important, scientist found organic molecules in the scattered lightwaves bounching off the asteroid.

Hydrogen and oxygen and bits of water are locked in clay has been the theory up until 24 Themis appears to have proven right.

For more details, please the artilces from any of the links presented below.

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REf, BBC April 29, 2010 (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science_and_environment/10090128.stm).

Comcast, April 29, 2010. by Seth Borenstein (http://www.comcast.net/articles/news-science/20100428/US.SCI.Icy.Asteroid/).

Water Found on Both Moon and Mars

September 23, 2009. NASA announches that there are small amounts of water on the surface of the moon. For years, scientists thought that previous spacecraft might have had slight contamination from Earth and had sent back misleading indications that they had found water on the moon. It has long been suspected that there might be frozen ice in deep craters where sunlight never gets to them at the poles.

Planetary geologist Carle Pieters of Brown University said the following, "Widespread water has been detected on the surafce of the moon. What we're detecting is completely unexpected. The moon continues to surprise us."

Recent observations by several spacecraft such as the Indian Chandrayaan-1 satellite, NASA's Cassini, and NASA's Deep Impact probe have forced the world's scientists to reconsider what they know about the lunar surface. All three of these spacecraft detected the spectral signature of water (the wavelengths of light that it reflects) all across the lunar surface. The signal was strongest at the lunar poles. Signal strength also depended on the local lunar day.

"The entire surafce of the moon will be hydrated durning at least part of the lunar day." So says Jessica Sunshine, University of Maryland and the deputy principal investigator for NASA's Deep Impact extended mission and the co-investigator for the Moon Mineralogy Mapper(M3) which is carried by the Indian satellite Chandrayaan-1.

What form the water takes on the lunar surface is nto clear yet although several theories are now being developed. It is seeping from underground (and or former lunar underground ruins according to Richard C. Hoagland-guest Science Advisor to the Coast to Coast Am radio program).

And the findings keep coming in-the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter and the LCROSS impactor are set to explore the lunar south pole craters looking for water ice. The fluctuating signals seen throughout the day could indicate that the water is migrating across the surface toward colder, higher latitudes and eventually the poles.

Pieters are putting forth the theory that "If the water molecules are as mobile as we think they are - even a fraction of them - they provide a mechanism for getting water to those permanently shadowed craters."

There is similar migration seen on Jupiter's moon Ganymeded and on Saturn's moon Iapetus.

As for Mars, the news was just as good. NASA reports that its Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter spotted ice at five new Martain craters, likely kicked up by meteor impacts. Megan Kennedy of the Malin Space Science Systems of San Diego said, "We now know we can use new impact sites as probes to look for ice in the shallow subsurface."

"This ice is a relic of a more humid climate from perhaps just several thousand years ago." Shane Byrne of the University of Arizona added.

The robot exploreres on ars have found ice on the surface before. Planetary scientists have seen what might be the shores of a giant river and seas on Mars. Louis Friedman, executive director of The Planetary Society said the following, "This is a real water resource."

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REF. Reuters.com. Chris Wilson, September 24, 2009. (http://www.reuters.com/article/scienceNews/idUSN2436167620090924)

Space.com. September 24, 2009. Andrea Thompson (http://www.space.com/scienceastronomy/090924-moon-water-reaction.html).