Year 2007 has begun with the announcement regarding a rocky planet close to star which aids probably in support of life. But, possibilities were proved wrong as Gliese 581c cannot support life, as it is to hot for supporting liquid. But, it is expecting that its neighbor Gliese 581d might have favorable conditions.
In April, team of Stephane Udry of the Geneva Observatory in Switzerland, discovered Gliese 581c, which is 50% bigger and five times massive than Earth. It was found to be located close to the habitable zone of its star. But, later team led by Werner von Bloh of the Institute for Climate Impact Research in Germany suggested it to be not favorable as it has carbon dioxide and methane in the atmosphere creating greenhouse effect.
Udry’s team discovered another planet, Gliese 581d which also raises similar hopes. According to Manfred Cuntz, astronomer at the University of Texas, “This planet is actually outside the habitable zone, further adding, “It appears at first sight too cold. However, based on the greenhouse effect, physical processes can occur which are heating up the planet to a temperature that allows for fluid water.” Researchers are also speculating there must be some primitive forms of life on Gliese 581d. But, no such evidence has been yet found.
According to astronomer at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, David Charbonneau, “probably a sound calculation but we don’t actually know if it’s correct.”
Astronomer at the University of British Columbia in Canada, Jaymie Matthews, “interesting as an illustration of how we can use remote exoplanetary environments as possible test beds for climate models.” He also added, “have done this already for HD 209458b, a hot Jupiter, but we will need to do this for possibly ‘Earthy’ planets to truly assess their habitability.”
According to the research conducted by Matthews, Gliese 581 has similar conditions to our sun. He monitored Gliese 581 for six weeks with MOST, Canadian telescope. He stated, “We know it took about three and a half billion years for life on Earth to reach the level of complexity that we call human, so it’s more encouraging for the prospects of complex life on any planet around Gliese 581 if it’s been around for at least as long.”
