Earthlike Planet Found
Astronomers have been searching for planets outside the Solar System for years. Hundreds have been found. Only recently did they discover a planet highly similar to Earth in size and distance from its star. The planet lies in the habitability zone (also known as the Goldilocks zone), the right distance from its star to have water in a liquid state. If astronomers are correct, it is a strong prospect to possess alien life, or one day support human life.
Kepler 186f, as it is called, is over 400 light years away, the fifth planet orbiting a star in the Cygnus constellation. It is nearly the same size as Earth, which means there’s a good chance it has similar gravitational pull as well as other characteristics. The most important detail is its distance from its star.
Scientists have long believed that life needs a liquid medium in order to evolve. A planet must have sufficient conditions for liquid water to exist including a temperature between 0 and 218 degrees Fahrenheit, sufficient air pressure, etc.
About 20 planets have been discovered that may be habitable for humans. Most of them are too large or small in comparison to Earth, creating some difficulties in terraforming and colonization.
Kepler 186f provides more circumstantial evidence that there is life on other worlds. The conditions necessary to support life on multiple planets. The odds that the right chemical reactions that spawn have only occurred on Earth are becoming remote.
However, there are a few other factors to keep in mind. Earth has endured several mass extinctions due to asteroid strikes as well as dramatic shifts in climate. These mass extinction events occur rarely thanks in large part to the planetary arrangement of our star system. The gas giants Jupiter and Saturn, absorb a large number of asteroids including some that may have struck Earth. Without them, it is unlikely life would have the time needed to evolve into advanced multi-cellular creatures, let alone intelligent life. A planet that is constantly bombarded with asteroids may be too volatile to support life.
Our star system is also on the mature side, meaning much of the random material floating about around it has formed into planets, moons, or inhabits the asteroid belt. Many star systems are young, which means there is all sorts of debris floating around, colliding with its orbiting planets. It also takes a while for planets to form, cool, and make possible the conditions to support life. Many of the planets we have discovered may be too young to have spawned life yet.
Earth also has a strong magnetosphere, O-zone, stable orbital eccentricity, and fairly slow and stable rotation. All of these factors are amenable to life. It is unclear how many planets possess these qualities. None in our Solar system do (although Mars may have once).
It is very likely life is common throughout the universe. The sheer number of stars and planets makes it a near certainty. However, intelligent life is a different matter. Millions of species have evolved on Earth yet only one managed to achieve the level of cognitive ability necessary to build a civilization. We still aren’t exactly sure how homo sapiens evolved. Without that important piece, we just aren’t sure how intelligent life evolves and what conditions are necessary for it to evolve. One thing is for sure, it takes a lot of time, a stable world, and biological competition.
It isn’t the strongest nor smartest species that survive, but those most adaptable to change. Life may thrive on other planets but that doesn’t mean any intelligent species will emerge. It took over 4 billions years for it to emerge here.
I also consider the Ancient Aliens possibility: maybe we aren’t the first or only intelligent life on this planet. When we look for evidence of civilization, we often look for traces of human civilization. We have no idea what an alien civilization would leave behind; it is possible we wouldn’t recognize it if we saw it. There very well could’ve been a wise dinosaur or other unknown creature. It’s a fun concept explored in the classic book Dinotopia.
Anyway, that’s all I got.
J
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