Down to Earth Discoveries

Somewhere, over the rainbow, way up high… and 600 light years from earth… sits a (maybe) bright blue-green planet where the average ambient temperature is a lovely 72 degrees Fahrenheit (22 degrees Celsius). While its radius is 2.4 times bigger than that of earth (hope you appreciate the gravity of that statement), Kepler-22b (what a romantic name, a veritable destination-beckoning resort title), falls into what scientists call the “habitable zone,” a rare find in our quest for another planet that might mirror earth.

NASA’s website notes: “NASA's Kepler mission has confirmed its first planet in the ‘habitable zone,’ the region where liquid water could exist on a planet’s surface. Kepler also has discovered more than 1,000 new planet candidates, nearly doubling its previously known count. Ten of these candidates are near-Earth-size and orbit in the habitable zone of their host star. Candidates require follow-up observations to verify they are actual planets.

“The newly confirmed planet, Kepler-22b, is the smallest yet found to orbit in the middle of the habitable zone of a star similar to our sun... Scientists don't yet know if Kepler-22b has a predominantly rocky, gaseous or liquid composition, but its discovery is a step closer to finding Earth-like planets.

“Previous research hinted at the existence of near-Earth-size planets in habitable zones, but clear confirmation proved elusive. Two other small planets orbiting stars smaller and cooler than our sun recently were confirmed on the very edges of the habitable zone, with orbits more closely resembling those of Venus and Mars.

“‘This is a major milestone on the road to finding Earth's twin,’ said Douglas Hudgins, Kepler program scientist at NASA Headquarters in Washington. ‘Kepler's results continue to demonstrate the importance of NASA's science missions, which aim to answer some of the biggest questions about our place in the universe.’” I wonder if they have intelligent life there, looking at decaying images from earth’s early television years (technically, they won’t get there for another 550 years!), and realizing earth really isn’t ready for a “hook up.”

The Kepler folks also found two other planets, about the size of earth, in a five planet solar system not unlike our own sun: “The two planets are believed to be too close to their sun and thus too hot to be habitable with temperatures ranging from 800 to 1,400 degrees. Scientists speculate that one of the planets called Kepler 20F might have had liquid water at one time in its history and could have been habitable. The Kepler science team says this is the first time humanity has been able to detect planets of Earth size in the universe.” LBNelert.com, December 20^th. Hey, some like it hot!

Whoa, space fans scream, don’t forget about planet GJ 667Cc which orbits that famous star (actually an M-class dwarf), GJ 667C (hmmm…. sounds a lot like the planet, but it’s actually 1/3 the size of our Sun)! Silly me! How could I have missed that “super-Earth” right-temperature orb that is 4.5 times the size of earth and a mere 22 light years away? Far away? Not in space terms. There are only about 100 stars between us and… er… them. “Preliminary observations also suggest that more planets could exist in this system, including a gas giant planet and another super-Earth that takes about 75 days to circle the star. More research will be needed to confirm these planetary candidates, as well as to glean additional details about the potentially habitable super-Earth, the scientists said.” Huffington Post, February 2^nd. Wonder if there could be aliens out there… Tell them they better not drop in Arizona or Alabama without their papers!

I’m Peter Dekom, and maybe someone “up there” can figure out how to fix stuff “down here”?