There’s a zone known as the Goldilocks Zone, where there may (or may not) be planets capable of supporting life. They call it the Goldilocks Zone because it’s not too hot, it’s not too cold, it’s just right. So far, scientists have not yet uncovered a planet that fits within that Goldilocks Zone, but with the discovery of Gliese 581 g, they may have uncovered the first rocky planet capable of supporting human life, which has astronomers thrilled beyond all reasonable measurement.
The Goldilocks Planet orbits a star called Gliese 581, which is a red dwarf star about 20 light years from Earth. It’s not exactly a nearby neighbor, but it’ll serve its purpose in a few hundred years when we finally achieve advanced space flight. It’s also a piece of evidence that supports the theory that there may be billions of worlds in the solar system capable of supporting humanity and its constant drive for expansion (and just in case we need to escape a destroyed home world).
“If you take the number of stars in our galaxy – a few hundred billion – and multiply them by 10 or 20 per cent, you end up with 20 or 40 billion potentially habitable planets out there,” says astronomer Steven Vogt. “It’s a very large number.” Hooray for a Warhammer 20K future!
Tags: Goldilocks Planet, Goldilocks Zone, Gliese 581 g, planet that may support life discovered, rocky planet that could support life discovered, astronomy, Steven Vogt, possible habitable planet discovered, new planet discovered