MOUNTAIN VIEW, CA (KGO) -- The discovery of a new planet has astronomers talking with renewed excitement. After 11 years of looking, a team of scientists have discovered a planet in what they call the "habitable zone." This new planet is three times the mass of earth and circles a star called Gliese 581.
"This is really the first Goldilocks planet, the first planet that is roughly the right size and just the right distance to have liquid water on the surface," Paul Bulter of the Carnegie Institute of Washington said.
Liquid water is considered to be the key to life.
UC Santa Cruz Professor Steven Vogt says the possibilities are endless. He says the planet he helped discover does not rotate thus the bright side can be as hot as 160 degrees and the cold, dark side can drop to 25 degrees below zero, but there is a sweet spot. Dr. Vogt says
"So there's a great range of ecologitude that will create a lot of different niches for different kind of life to evolve stablely," Vogt said.
more Discovery of new planet excites scientists | abc7news.com
"This is really the first Goldilocks planet, the first planet that is roughly the right size and just the right distance to have liquid water on the surface," Paul Bulter of the Carnegie Institute of Washington said.
Liquid water is considered to be the key to life.
UC Santa Cruz Professor Steven Vogt says the possibilities are endless. He says the planet he helped discover does not rotate thus the bright side can be as hot as 160 degrees and the cold, dark side can drop to 25 degrees below zero, but there is a sweet spot. Dr. Vogt says
"So there's a great range of ecologitude that will create a lot of different niches for different kind of life to evolve stablely," Vogt said.
more Discovery of new planet excites scientists | abc7news.com
