Earth's twin planet will be found by the end of the year

These are hopeful signs that we are now confident that we wil find planets that are like our Earth in the coming year. And when we find it, then maybe the ET search is likely to be towards life in that planet, and we may perhaps find out that there is indeed life in this universe.

By earth like it means habitable and if we find habitable planets then we must be traveling to those planets as soon as we can, even if by unmanned probes.

The first Earth-like planet outside the solar system will have been discovered by the end of the year, one of the world's leading astronomers said yesterday.
Professor Michel Mayor, the scientist in charge of the team who detected the first extrasolar planet in 1995, claimed that the chance of finding a planet that is habitable for humans is now imminent.

The astronomer, of Geneva University, said that recent technological progress that allows the observation of planets outside the solar system now makes the prospect of locating a planet of a similar make-up to Earth extremely likely

'We’ve entered a new phase in this search.'

He was speaking at a conference at the Royal Society to mark the anniversary of the Search for Extra-Terrestrial Intelligence, known as SETI.

Source: www.dailymail.co.uk...

[edit on 29-1-2010 by sunny_2008ny]

This is definitely exciting news. Just thinking about another planet with water and life ignites the imagination. To be honest though I don't believe such a discovery will happen in the next year. Maybe the next decade. If it does happen in the next year though (and its confirmed) I will eat my words. Cool find. Cheers.

I'm guessing they've already found it years ago. They're just going to release it this year. So the masses would think we're really not alone when they initiate the fake UFO invasion.

well I hope so....in the meantime and in between time check this out!

www.universetoday.com...

reply to post by sunny_2008ny


nice news. I just don't see us traveling any where that far to soon.

reply to post by sunny_2008ny


Yeah, I was going to say...
It sounds like they've already found it...them...whatever...
And they're just waiting until the right time to tell the masses.
So, the way I see it, it's not that these planets will be 'discovered' in the traditional sense, but rather 'discovered by the masses' sometime this year.

By "Earth-like" they mean about the same size and about the right distance from its star to have a temperatures like Earth. Using these criteria, Venus and Mars could be considered "Earth-like".

Kepler, nor any other instruments now available, can determine the actual temperatures of these extra-solar planets, the composition of their atmosphere (or even if they have an atmosphere), or the presence of liquid water.

Originally posted by Phage
By "Earth-like" they mean about the same size and about the right distance from its star to have a temperatures like Earth. Using these criteria, Venus and Mars could be considered "Earth-like".

Kepler, nor any other instruments now available, can determine the actual temperatures of these extra-solar planets, the composition of their atmosphere (or even if they have an atmosphere), or the presence of liquid water.

Im sorry but you are WRONG good Phage.

Venus is .72 AU from the sun, Mars is 1.52.

The "habitable zone" is generally agreed on being between .95 to 1.37 AU.

This does not encompass Venus or Mars.

Edited to add:
Yes we can also determine the primary make up of an Exoplanets' atmoshpere. We are doing exciting stuff these days!

[edit on 31-1-2010 by bismarcksea]

reply to post by bismarcksea

Sort of depends on who you ask.

In our own solar system, the CHZ is thought to extend from a distance of 0.725 to 3.0 astronomical units, based on various scientific models:

en.wikipedia.org...

reply to post by Phage

Yeah I read wiki too. You missed this part:

"The habitable zone is not to be confused with the planetary habitability. While planetary habitability deals solely with the planetary conditions required to maintain carbon-based life, the habitable zone deals with the stellar conditions required to maintain carbon-based life, and these two factors are not meant to be interchanged."


3 AU??? Are you serious? Thats out there with the Main Ast. Belt.
One guy THINKS that carbon based life MIGHT survive that far from the sun but the "Frost theory" is full of holes worse that swiss cheese and he makes way to many assumptions to be taken serious as science.

The only way I would buy that a carbon based lifeform could survive that far from the sun is if it had a special relationship like Jupiter and Europa.

[edit on 31-1-2010 by bismarcksea]

reply to post by bismarcksea

You're right...sort of.

We have isolated the spectrum of hot planets but cannot do so for "Earth-like" planets.

But he points out that such ground-based observations only work well for very large, hot planets. "They most certainly won't work for cooler, more Earth-like, and possibly life-bearing planets," he says. "That will continue to remain the province of dedicated space-borne instrumentation".

physicsworld.com...

reply to post by Phage


Thank you for doing some research instead of blindly arguing.

I have total respect for you Phage, your a good "dude".