Found: one Earth-like planet
Astronomers use gravity lensing to spot homely planets.
© ESOAstronomers say they have found the most Earth-like planet yet outside our Solar System. At just 5.5 times the mass of Earth it is one of the smallest extrasolar planets ever found, and orbits its star at a distance comparable to that of habitable worlds. Similarly sized extrasolar planets have been found before. But the method used to detect them meant we could see smallish planets only when they were very close to their suns, and such bodies are battered by scorching radiation.
Planet OGLE-2005-BLG-390Lb looks much more like home. It lies about 390 million kilometres from its star: if it were inside our Solar System, the planet would sit between Mars and Jupiter. It takes ten years for the planet to orbit its parent star, a common-or-garden red dwarf that lies about 28,000 light years from Earth, close to the centre of our Galaxy.
Notícia boa, esta que me chegou via ESA. Sinto-me como em véspera de Natal, ou em véspera de férias a-ver-o-mar, ou no dia do nascimento de criança anunciada no seio da família. Suficientemente longínqua da nossa cobiça, é improvável que o Homem lá chegue. Mas saber que existe uma idêntica, é bom e não mete medo. Sinto-me bem, vazia de tristeza. E mais não digo. Palavras para quê? =)
http://www.esa.int/esaSC/SEMDJ3NZCIE_index_1.html e
http://www.nature.com/news/2006/060123/full/060123-5.html
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