April Flowers for redOrbit.com Your Universe Online

In the past week, two new exoplanets have been confirmed; one by the Planet Hunters citizen science project that uses NASAs Kepler mission data, and the other by a European team. The existence of PH1 and the as-yet unnamed planet in Alpha Centauri will reignite the race to find an Earth-like planet that could host extraterrestrial life.

The most powerful telescopes ever built are about to come online, adding more fuel to the discussion about where life could exist. Scientific discussion about the possibility of alien life forms is becoming more mainstream as well.

I think scientists are very happy having a rational conversation about the likelihood of life out there, said Bob Nichol, an astronomer at Portsmouth University in Britain.

New Planets

This conversation is partly driven by the planetary discoveries. Over 800 of these exoplanets have been discovered since the early 1990s.

The high number of planets makes it more likely that life will be found, according to Nichol. He cites the many formats of life that are found on Earth as indirect evidence that life is out there.

A research team from the Geneva Observatory reported that the newest planet found is too close to its own sun to support life; however, previous studies have suggested that when one planet is found orbiting a star, there are usually others in the same system.

The planet in the Alpha Centauri system is Earth-sized, but far from Earthlike. It circles its parent star, Alpha Centauri B, in just 3.2 days, making it likely that the surface is molten with temperatures in excess of 2,000 degrees Fahrenheit. Just finding a new planet so close to Earth, even one inhospitable to life, is a huge success for exoplanetology. It raises the possibility that smaller, more hospitable planets could be found in the same system.

The Alpha Centauri system is 4.3 light-years from Earth in the Centaurus constellation. There are two stars in the system; Alpha Centauri A is a yellow star, slightly larger and brighter than our Sun, and Alpha Centauri B is a red star, fainter than our Sun. The two circle around a common center of gravity, taking about 80 years to complete a circuit. There is a third star, Proxima, which is a very dim red dwarf star. Proxima is actually the closest known star to our Sun.

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New Planet Discoveries Reignite Search For Alien Life