Imagine the galaxy, its countless stars and innumerable planets. On an insignificant speck atop an insignificant speck in some forgotten corner rest in the knowledge that "You are here," according to The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy.
Yesterday's announced discovery of Earth-like planet Kepler-22b [confirmed] brought with it renewed speculation over the [high probability] of life on other worlds [even with all the black holes].While the news was exciting, there's growing evidence that it's only a drop in the bucket when it comes to finding habitable worlds in our cosmic neighborhood.
As we begin to traverse distant space (or it is finally disclosed that humans have been there for countless millenia) it is vital that we begin to understand the importance of each individual always knowing where her/his towel is.
Space.com has provided a HANDY GUIDE to some of the 700 planets discovered by the Kepler telescope outside of our solar system. The findings include "Super-Earth" planets such as Kepler-22b and even possible "Water Worlds," like the planet GJ 1214b, which may be covered in vast oceans of water.And outside this "habitable zone" are other interesting finds, including several "Rogue Planets" that orbit the Milky Way galaxy independently after they were ejected from their solar system.
The discovery of Kepler-22b reminded me of a great Isaac Asimov book I read in the late 80's called Extraterrestrial Civilizations. Even though Asimov wrote the book before the Hubble telescope was put into use, his theories are still considered cutting-edge to this day. More
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