Post by CrazySting on Dec 18, 2009 12:21:20 GMT -5
A newfound "water world" orbiting a star just 40 light-years away is the first known Earthlike planet close enough for us to "sniff" its atmosphere, astronomers say.
Dubbed GJ 1214b, the planet is only about 2.7 times larger than Earth and about 6.5 times more massive. (Get the latest on the search for new Earths.)
Based on its density, scientists think GJ 1214b is made up of about three-quarters liquid water with a solid core of iron and nickel and an atmosphere of hydrogen and helium—not unlike Earth.
But in most other ways, the planet is a "very different beast" from our home world, the researchers say.
"It's basically one big ocean," said study leader David Charbonneau of the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics in Cambridge, Massachusetts.
"There are no continents of rock floating on top or peaking up through the water."
(Related: "Most Earthlike Planet Yet Found May Have Liquid Oceans.")
Moreover, GJ 1214b is hotter than Earth and its atmosphere is ten times thicker than our own, the study authors say.
This would make things difficult for life as we know it. For starters, the atmospheric pressure on the planet's surface must be immense, and very little light would be able to penetrate the haze to reach the oceans.
news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2009/04/090421-most-earthlike-planet.html
Humans should go live there, and then swim around looking for land all the time, like Kevin Coster in Waterworld.
Dubbed GJ 1214b, the planet is only about 2.7 times larger than Earth and about 6.5 times more massive. (Get the latest on the search for new Earths.)
Based on its density, scientists think GJ 1214b is made up of about three-quarters liquid water with a solid core of iron and nickel and an atmosphere of hydrogen and helium—not unlike Earth.
But in most other ways, the planet is a "very different beast" from our home world, the researchers say.
"It's basically one big ocean," said study leader David Charbonneau of the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics in Cambridge, Massachusetts.
"There are no continents of rock floating on top or peaking up through the water."
(Related: "Most Earthlike Planet Yet Found May Have Liquid Oceans.")
Moreover, GJ 1214b is hotter than Earth and its atmosphere is ten times thicker than our own, the study authors say.
This would make things difficult for life as we know it. For starters, the atmospheric pressure on the planet's surface must be immense, and very little light would be able to penetrate the haze to reach the oceans.
news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2009/04/090421-most-earthlike-planet.html
Humans should go live there, and then swim around looking for land all the time, like Kevin Coster in Waterworld.
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