The possibility of another Earth--is it something of science fiction? Not according to NASA scientists, who are saying the discovery is quite close.
The eternal question of our being alone in the universe is one that constantly floats around the astronomy community. "Finding Earth's twin," John Grunsfield says, "that's kind of the holy grail." Grunsfield is an astronaut who aided in the repair of the Hubble Telescope in 2009, now an associate administrator at NASA. Along with being an issue of philosophy and exploration, the concept of a "twin Earth" relays various complications. For one, the size: finding a planet Earth's size is difficult, as these bodies give off much fainter signals. In addition, finding another planet with Earth's perfect conditions that make it habitable can be problematic.
However, these challenges have not put down scientists, who are still searching. Many believe that greater strides in science are to come, as evidenced by the last decade. "We already know that our galaxy has at least 100 billion planets," says the director of the Space Telescope Science Institute, Matt Mountain, "and we didn't know that five years ago." The hunt for this planet has been conducted majorly by the Kepler Space Telescope, which seeks out planets by finding dips in the brightnesses of surrounding stars. This search is aided by equipment like the Hubble Space Telescope, which because of lightyear travel, allows scientists to see millions of years in the past, and further construct their theories. The scientists write that the path to finding this new planet is ready; now all that is left is to wait.
This article was really interesting to me, someone who goes out of his way to see the latest in space exploration (even when documented in a Christopher Nolan movie). Although when this planet is found, it probably won't have a major impact on our lives, it still does relay an answer to the question of our being alone in the universe. The conclusion of this experiment would bring about so many answers, and just as many questions, and that's something to look forward to.
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This article was interesting because space and the universe have always fascinated me. It is difficult to fathom how large the universe is and how much we still don't know about it. A planet similar to Earth is an amazing discovery and I wonder if there are any living organisms there already? What I want to know is if it is possible for life to exist somewhere other than on Earth and if so, how are the lifestyles of these beings different from ours? It would be interesting to communicate with them and know that we are not alone in the universe.
ReplyDeleteSince there are some 100 billion planets in our galaxy, there is bound to be another Earth. It would be interesting to see how close this duplicate would be to our planet. I found that during the process of finding such a planet that could support human life, the space lab used dips in the brightness in the surrounding stars to find planets. This was a very interesting article that taught me more about space!
ReplyDeleteWow, it would be amazing to discover another Earth-like planet that can support life. This is definitely a question that has caused a buzz in the scientific community for ages. Our universe is such an incredible place, and it would be amazing to discover more life out there. This discovery would change everything. If scientists keep searching, who knows what we may find some day? As technological advancements are made, hopefully we will come closer and closer to finding an Earth-like planet, making exciting new discoveries about space along the way!
ReplyDeleteAlthough encountering a duplicate of Earth seems to be unimaginable at the moment, it would certainly be a very interesting discovery. While we might not find a perfect replica of our planet, I think that there are definitely other life forms besides us that exist, considering the immense size of the universe. Simply discovering other living organisms in space would be a huge accomplishment, but discovering another Earth would be even more incredible!
ReplyDeleteThis is a very interesting article. It made me realize that there is a lot that we don't know about our universe yet. I believe that there could be another planet similar to Earth with living organisms as well. Hopefully in the near future scientists will be able to discover more about our universe.
ReplyDeleteThis article stands out to me because I love learning about astronomy and the different knowledge the study of the universe has brought humankind. I watched a movie called "Contact", where scientists were trying to communicate with aliens from outer space. One of the famous quotes in the movie is "So if it's just us... it seems like an awful waste of space". I can really relate to this because I believe that if the Earth is the only planet that sustains life, the entire Universe would be wasted. For these reasons I believe that scientists in the future have a great chance to find a place like the Earth.
ReplyDeleteFascinating! This is very interesting and detailed as to the "new" planet that closely resembles Earth's characteristics. Relating to this topic, I know that there will be an experiment where they send about 1000 people on a rocket to Mars, because scientists believe that Mars may have traits that can maintain life on the planet. Some of the variables that help the scientists feel this way are the temperature, atmosphere, and other factors such as the amount of water and magnetism.
ReplyDeleteThis article was very interesting and the idea of founding another planet similar to Earth is great as it will allow scientists to learn more about the universe and all the things that exist in our galaxy.
ReplyDeleteIt is interesting that there may be another "Earth" out there. Perhaps we are not alone in the universe and there are others out there. If Earth's population was split onto two planets, I wonder what adaption the human species would make to adapt to their new home. Would a human from Earth and a human from the second inhabited planet even look the same? I can not wait to learn more about this topic.
ReplyDeleteThis topic has been raised many times including last year in science class. I recall there being a certain branch of NASA dealing with the search of another "Earth", what is that called? Also, what conditions make a planet "Earth-like" and therefore habitable for humans?
ReplyDeleteThis article has really given insight on what the NASA scientists are going through in order to find out whether or not life exists on another planet. I am a real space buff, and I am really looking forward to that glorious day, when someone picks up a radio signal from somebody else in the interstellar space. I am even more excited about finding another planet that is like Earth. That would be amazing.
ReplyDeleteI think this is a really fascinating article and believe that such a discovery could lead to our expansion in space travel as well as our views on our place in the universe. I wonder if the people living on those planets (if there are any), are the same as us or different?
ReplyDeleteThis is awesome! I reallyyyy hope NASA develops this research. Life on another world just interests me so much. I could talk about it all day. I have wondered since I was little if we are the only living creatures in this universe. Hopefully that's not true!
ReplyDeleteThis was definitely a cool article, because the universe is so large that the possibilities are literally infinite, and that's probably why NASA says there is another Earth, and I find that really cool, because that also means that there are possibilities of other living organisms besides the ones on Earth.
ReplyDeleteI have always been fascinated with space but hypothetically speaking even if we find a planet that is a twin to our which is highly unlikely we would most probably have to go faster than the speed of light to reach there.
ReplyDeleteThe existence of another planet with similar conditions as Earth would simply be mind blowing. The fact that we have been able to learn so much information about the cosmos in the last decade gives hope that we might succeed in this endeavor in the distant future. Although we have large obstacles to surmount, it is a possibility that we might find Earth's twin.
ReplyDeleteGreat article! I was really interested in how the search for another earth was going - the benefits of having another planet like this one would be numerous.
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