Kepler space telescope spots five Earth-sized planets in our galaxy

Are we alone in the universe? Findings by NASA’s Kepler space telescope are making that seem less likely.

NASA scientists have announced Kepler has spotted five planets about the size of Earth, orbiting stars in our galaxy.

These planets are orbiting in what is known as the habitable zone, which puts them at a distance from their suns where liquid water could exist. Liquid water is a key ingredient for life to form.

“In a generation we have gone from extraterrestrial planets being a mainstay of science fiction, to the present, where Kepler has helped turn science fiction into today’s reality,” said NASA Administrator Charles Bolden.

The Kepler science team also announced the telescope found six planets, all larger than Earth, orbiting a single sun-like star.

That star is some 2,000 light years from Earth.

To date, the telescope has detected more than 1,200 planet candidates. The fact that so many planets have been found in the Milky Way galaxy “suggests there are countless planets orbiting sun-like stars in our galaxy,” said William Borucki, Kepler’s principal investigator.

Kepler does not actually see the planets themselves. The telescope sees tiny decreases in light from the stars as planets transit across their suns.

The five Earth-sized planets are orbiting stars cooler and smaller than our sun, and further analysis is still necessary to officially confirm they are planets.

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News for 12/20/2010

Just wanted to post a quick note to let everyone know that I’m still around, and this site is still up and running. Due to the November – December holiday season it’s been rather busy and I’ve not been able to update the site with anything new. I will be working hard to change that around in the next few days, so stay tuned.

Did E.T. Finally Phone Home?

The truth is out there.

NASA is planning to hold a news conference Thursday “to discuss an astrobiology finding that will impact the search for evidence of extraterrestrial life.”

The Web is abuzz with speculation about what that cryptic phrase might mean.

“Our guess is that this astrobiological discovery will have something to do with water, evolutionary biology, and aquatic bacteria,” the Geek Tech bloggers at PCWorld say.

Gaming and fantasy site Kotaku thinks it could mean life-friendly conditions – or even living organisms – have been found on Saturn’s moon Rhea.

“There’s only one thing this could mean: NASA has aliens. Now let’s just hope they’re the friendly, ET-kind of visitors, and not the warlike Klingon types,” Stephen Losey wrote (tongue-in-cheek) on FederalTimes.com.

Blogger Jason Kottke analyzed the lineup of scientists slated to appear at the press conference and came up with his own conclusion:

“If I had to guess at what NASA is going to reveal on Thursday, I’d say that they’ve discovered arsenic on Titan and maybe even detected chemical evidence of bacteria utilizing it for photosynthesis (by following the elements). Or something like that.”

Leave it to Discover.com’s level-headed Phil Plait to throw a wet space blanket on the hype over the possible discover of extraterrestrial life:

“It seems really unlikely; I don’t think they would announce it in this way,” he writes. “It would’ve been under tighter wraps, for one thing. It’s more likely they’ve found a new way life can exist and that evidence for these conditions exists on other worlds. But without more info, I won’t speculate any farther than that.”

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The Diary of Ms Angela Yorke

The following is a transcription from several pages of a burnt personal diary that was found next to the remains of Angela S. Yorke. Police officers entered Ms. Yorke’s apartment at 113 Cherry lane on July 28th after she had been reported missing for several days. The interior of the apartment had apparently been completely destroyed in a fire, although none of the neighbors had reported seeing flames. In the corner of the bedroom the officers found a large pile of ash that was later identified, through dental records, to be the body of Ms. Yorke. From the charred hand of the corpse the officers recovered a badly damaged diary which she had apparently been writing in throughout the period of her disappearance. Experts have been unable to determine the cause of the fire, nor the reason why it damaged only the inside of one apartment, leaving the exterior and all surrounding rooms unharmed. In an effort to solve the mystery, the diary underwent an extensive restoration to repair and copy the charred pages.

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The Only Way Out

Gregory A. Julian moved into the mansion on 481 Cayuga Dr. Soon, angry letters from the bank began to pour into his mail slot, threatening foreclosure unless he began to pay off his sizable loan. Three months later, the requisite amount of time had passed and an eviction notice was printed by my boss. And that’s the asshole that sent me, late Friday evening, just before I left for the weekend, to deliver the letter in person to the absent Mr. Julian. I ground my teeth as I wound my way through the suburbs looking for Cayuga Drive. Somehow, this man I had never knew or met had unwittingly conspired with my boss to ruin my evening plans.

481 stood at the end of the block, its windows dark, its flanks shaded by oaks twisting into the reddening sky. I parked the car next to a dusty BMW and walked up the short stone path to his (now the bank’s) front door. It seemed odd that the expensive car would be sitting unprotected outside of his spacious garage, an even layer of pollen coating the outside and a stack of moving boxes piled within. Also, it was bizarre that the heavy front door stood halfway open, a mountain of letters and bills spilling out the doorway and onto the walk. I rapped the brass knocker against the door, “Mr. Gregory Julian?” I called inside, “I’m from the bank; I have some important papers to give to you.” No reply.

I ventured a little further into the hallway and repeated myself louder. Still no reply. But squinting, I saw the soft glow of a light spilling down a staircase at the end of the hallway. A glance at the hour hand on my watch was all it took to send me inside the house in search of my quarry.

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