Carnegie Institution/UCSC
It appears that astronomers have found yet another "Super Earth", and this one appears to be much closer to our own planet than the others (about 22 light-years away). The planet, titled GJ667Cc, orbits in its star's habitable zone, which basically means it could potentially contain living organisms. Co-discoverer of the planet, Steve Vogt of UC Santa Cruz, says:
"I think it's going to be pretty historic. We've been gnawing at the bone of an earthlike planet in the habitable zone for years now, and I think we're just about there."
Another intriguing aspect of the article is one scientist's claim that we currently have the technology to send a Droid cell phone out to GJ667Cc to capture closeup images. Keep in mind that one light-year equals roughly six trillion miles, so the scientist estimates it would take nearly two-hundred years to send the Droid and another twenty years to send back the images (cue the horn). Meanwhile, the inhabitants of GJ667Cc have already dispatched their exploration team to our less-than-Super planet.
This is all fascinating to contemplate. It's also a great relief to know that there may be other planets out there that we can eventually inhabit and slowly destroy once we've finished sucking Earth's resources dry.
Read the full article at Time Online.
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