This week, astronomer Seth Shostak says that there are tens of billions of habitable planets — not just in the universe as we know it, but in our galaxy!
Our Galaxy
Our galaxy is the Milky Way Galaxy and it is comprised of more than just the sun, Mars, Mercury, Earth, Venus, Jupiter, Neptune, Uranus, Pluto, etc.
There are billions of stars, many moons, and more planets than we ever had time to learn about in our basic science classes — unless you took astronomy as an elective.
Are We Alone?
The answer to this question could come sooner than we think with this recent discovery.
The other planets were discovered thanks to the Keplar spacecraft, NASA’s extraordinary creation.
This has expanded the potential for finding habitable worlds, and even intelligent life, but, as Seth Shostak says, it is still a needle in a haystack search.
Previous Studies
In previous studies, it has been found that in the Milky Way Galaxy as a whole there are tens of billions of planets that are like Earth.
What makes Earth so unique and ideal for life is that we are placed just the right distance from the sun so that we do not fry or freeze. It’s perfectly placed within our galaxy to provide life and to sustain it.
However, again thanks to Keplar, it has been noticed by astronomers from Berkeley and the University of Hawaii.
One of these planets could very well be circling a star that you gaze upon each night — or be sucked into a black hole since it takes several thousand light years for the light of the stars to even reach our atmosphere, and most are usually dead by the time we see them.
The Problem
While these planets may be Earth sized and possibly habitable, the fact is that we do not know.
The atmosphere could be too thick, creating an oven-like world that would literally make us like Thanksgiving turkeys that were charbroiled.
Or the atmosphere could turn us into human-sicles.
Wonder if any aliens would be curious about us then?
The other problems of this could be numerous living organisms that would be parasitic for us, or inhabitants that would be pissed we were on their planet.
But the possibilities are endless and numerous as well, especially if we mess up this planet.
But, keep in mind, folks, potentially habitable does not mean it is habitable.
So, why not take care of our current planet, especially since it is the only one (as far as we know) with chocolate?
Let us know what you think at the Liberal America Facebook page.
Edited by D.H.
