habitable planet

10 Stories

Scientists: 'Holy Grail' World Could Support Life

Hello, Gliese 667Cc

(Newser) - Researchers poring over old European Southern Observatory data have found a world so potentially similar to Earth that one researcher called it a "Holy Grail" discovery, the Telegraph reports. Gliese 667Cc orbits a red dwarf 22 light years away, and likely has temperatures extremely similar to those on Earth,...

Milky Way Has Tens of Billions of Habitable Planets

These super-Earths are all over the galaxy, say scientists

(Newser) - Could aliens be hanging out in the Milky Way? A new discovery by astronomers shows they'd have plenty of possible homes in the galaxy, reports Reuters . The researchers found that tens of billions of planets reside in a habitable zone close to a star, allowing water to flow on...

'Super Earth' Spotted, Might Support Life

GG 667Cc orbits star 22 light years away

(Newser) - A planet in a triple-star system a relatively close 22 light years away is the best candidate yet for supporting life, researchers say. The rocky planet, GJ 667Cc, is around 4.5 times the size of Earth and orbits in the middle of the "Goldilocks zone" where water can...

Thank Moss for Livable Planet
 Thank Moss 
 for Livable 
 Planet 
study says
Feb 2, 2012 4:11 PM CST

Thank Moss for Livable Planet

Plant may have prompted major shift in ancient climate

(Newser) - About 480 million years ago, the planet was a much hotter place—and we have moss to thank for the habitable Earth we enjoy today, research suggests. Back then, 16 times as much carbon dioxide existed in the atmosphere, scientists think. Some 20 million years later, carbon dioxide levels had...

'Large Regions' of Mars Are Habitable

 'Large Regions' 
 of Mars Are 
 Habitable 
study says
Dec 12, 2011 7:45 AM CST

'Large Regions' of Mars Are Habitable

But no sign of aliens, spaceships: researchers

(Newser) - More fascinating news about the potential for life on Mars . Some 3% of Mars' volume is capable of sustaining life, Australian scientists have found—more than the 1% of Earth that contains living things. Researchers based their findings on a comparison between the two planets' temperature and pressure attributes, AFP...

Scientists Rank Livable Worlds

Saturn moon, exoplanet top lists

(Newser) - Looking for extraterrestrials? You might want to start with Saturn’s moon Titan. Scientists have ranked it the alien world most capable of supporting life, according to a “Planetary Habitability Index,” the BBC reports. The index takes into account the planet or moon’s surface, the presence of...

Kepler Results Boost Chances of Finding Alien Life

For every two suns, an Earth-like planet

(Newser) - Exciting news for alien enthusiasts: The discovery by NASA scientists of a vast trove of Earth-like planets orbiting distant suns boosts our chances of finding extraterrestrial life. Findings from the Kepler telescope revealed that for every two stars in the universe, one has an Earth-like "candidate planet" orbiting it,...

New Exoplanet Has Earth-Like Climate

Corot-9b a 'Rosetta Stone' in planetary research

(Newser) - For the first time, a planet with temperatures like earth's has been discovered orbiting a distant star. While hundreds of exoplanets—planets orbiting suns outside our solar system—are already known, this one, named Corot-9b, is the first with a temperate climate that can be studied in depth, leading the...

Discovery of Earth's Twin 'Within Reach'

Kepler will find habitable planet like ours: astronomer

(Newser) - The Kepler spacecraft prowling the far reaches of the Milky Way will soon find a habitable planet similar to earth, a leading astronomer is convinced. Recent technological advances in the observation of planets outside our own solar system have rapidly brought us closer to finding earth's "twin" planet,...

NASA Begins Hunt for Earth-Like Planets

(Newser) - NASA will launch its Kepler space telescope tomorrow on a 3-year mission to look for planets as habitable to life as Earth, the Christian Science Monitor reports. Kepler will use a sophisticated digital camera, 10 times more sensitive than consumer models, to survey distant stars for orbiting planets with just...

10 Stories