Mixing astronomy and fairy tales isn’t commonly done, but scientists looking for the “Goldilocks Zone” may have found the perfect spot. It’s not a bed that’s too small or too big, it’s a spot in space that is inhabitable by life forms.

The scientists use a fairy tale term to define the perfect location to sustain life. The “Goldilocks Zone” is not too hot and not too cold. It’s just right!

For decades, astronomers have been searching for real estate in space that could support human life. Far and wide they’ve trained their telescopes on the vastness of space looking for a rock that has enough elements in common with Earth to provide a potential home away from home for you and me.

It turns out, such places may exist even within our own solar system. Granted, they are out on the perimeter and likely frozen, but the conditions that could support life might be on these planet-sized chunks of space gravel that may be suspended in the Oort cloud, which encircles our system and is filled with debris.

Findings presented at a recent American Association for the Advancement of Science meeting in Boston stated that potentially 20 percent to 60 percent of Sun-like stars in the Milky Way are surrounded by the elements that could combine to form a planet in the same way Earth was created.

Buzz Lightyear may not have to go “To infinity and beyond.”

Image

Tags: Astronomy, Oort cloud, space, Milky Way, Goldilocks Zone, planets, fairy tales

Rachel Christie is quite an accomplished young woman.  Or she was, anyway.  At age 21, not only is she in training for the 2012 London Olympics as a heptathlete, she also found some time on her days off to become the first black winner of the Miss England competition.  However, while she might still represent […]

The 2009 inductees for the National Toy Hall of Fame have been announced, and this year’s class of honorees is the direct opposite of last year’s class.  Where the 2008 version required a lot of imagination to wring the most fun out of them, 2009’s hall of fame class requires a lot less thinking and […]

After 13 years on the police force, Terry Ashe has seen and experienced a lot of crazy things.  However, he hasn’t lost his sense of humor, or his ability to tell an appropriately lurid tale.  When his police cruiser was bitten by an angry alligator (apparently this is a common problem in Florida), he could’ve […]

Any time a baby goes missing, a big manhunt breaks out.  Fortunately for 7-month-old Shannon Lea Dedrick, her story has a happy ending.  Unfortunately for Shannon’s mother, Chrystina Lynn Mercer, and babysitter, Susan Elizabeth Brown, the baby’s happy ending will probably get them both jail time.  Shannon was reported missing on Saturday, and was discovered […]

It was a scene worthy of the great Mark Twain; indeed, it was a crucial moment in The Adventures of Tom Sawyer!  A case of mistaken identity allowed a Brazilian man named Ademir Jorge Goncalves to make an appearance at a very unlikely event:  his own funeral.  It’s like something out of a Coffin Joe […]

The champagne is drying in the locker room, and the Bronx is celebrating this morning as the New York Yankees have claimed their 27th World Series championship as the best team in Major League Baseball.  To the victors go the spoils, like rings, a trophy, and a ticker-tape parade through New York’s Canyon Of Heroes.  […]

There’s one thing that’s fun about slot machines.  You put money into them, lights flash and bells ring, and if you’re lucky, you’re a winner and money clinks noisily into the winnings slot.  Most of the time, you don’t get anything but the lights and noise, but Bill Seebeck hit the jackpot.  Literally and figuratively.  […]