goldilocks planet
Thursday, September 30th, 2010A “Goldilocks planet” is a planet that falls within a star ’s habitable zone, often specifically used for planets close to the size of Earth. [1]
The smallest world circling Gliese 581 is a “Goldilocks” planet with the conditions just right for potential life. [2]
Astronomers recently announced the discovery of the planet, which orbits the star Gliese 581 every 13 days. [3]
Astronomers saw the distant planet capable of harboring water as a “Goldilocks planet”: not too hot, not too cold. [4]
Earth is the only Goldilocks planet in our solar system (shown at center, not to scale). [1]
The planet is not much bigger than the Earth, and it enjoys balmy temperatures of about 20? C (68? F) as well as spectacular scarlet sunsets. [2]
Those named by the Kepler telescope team, which is poised to announce the discovery of hundreds of planets next year, offer a slight improvement. [5]
They monitored a small, dim “red dwarf” star called Gliese 581, which lies 20.5 light years away, and is already known to have a Neptune-class planet. [2]
Last month, a team of researchers hunting extrasolar planets - those that reside around stars other than our sun - discovered a solar system with at least five and possibly seven planets. [5]
Astronomers have also discovered more than 200 planets orbiting other stars. [4]
Likewise, a planet following this Goldilocks Principle is one that is neither too close nor too far from a star to rule out life (as humans understand it) on the planet. [1]
One of the planets sits smack in the middle of the star’s “Goldilocks zone” - the area around the star where the porridge - er, water - might be just right for life. [5]
“Liquid water is critical to life as we know it,” said Xavier Delfosse, one of the astronomers on the discovery team. [...] Based on its size and distance from its star, scientists suspect the surface of 581c is rock or rock and ice. [3]
NASA scientists said the body, 1.5 times the diameter of Earth, orbits a Sun-like star 2,000 light-years away. [4]
Sources:
[1] Goldilocks planet - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
[2] ‘Goldilocks‘ planet may be just right for life - space - 25 …
[3] Meet the ‘Goldilocks‘ Planet | Weekly Reader: Curriculum-Rich …
[4] Planet - Science - The New York Times
[5] Would you name your planet HD 10180g? - St. Petersburg Times