William Atkins
Sunday, 22 February 2009 21:19
Science -
Space
Page 3 of 4
Dr. Boss was quoted within the BBC News story:
"Not only are they probably habitable but they probably are also going to be inhabited. But I think that most likely the nearby 'Earths' are going to be inhabited with things which are perhaps more common to what Earth was like three or four billion years ago."
Boss adds in TimesOnline,
“We’re on the verge of finding out convincingly how frequently habitable planets occur in the Universe. A little over 20 years ago we knew of no other planetary system other than our own.”
He continues,
“We now know of well over 300. I suspect that virtually every star when you look up at the night sky has an Earth-like planet around it.” [TimesOnline.co.uk: “
We are not alone: 'trillions' of planets could be supporting life"]
Dr. Boss adds,
“The estimates are that super-Earths probably occur in one third of solar-like stars, and I would say that those oddball planets are the tip of the iceberg. About three or four years from now there’ll be a press conference announcing how frequently Earths occur. It’s quite an exciting time to be alive.”
For those of you who thought you saw UFOs in the sky or little green men on Earth, Dr. Boss makes a comment:
“The speed of light is so far away from the fastest our fastest rockets can go that it would take us hundreds of thousands of years to get to the closest star. We don’t have to worry about anyone coming to visit us.” [TimesOnline.co.uk]
This comments doesn't mean he is correct in the statement. But, only an educated comment based on scientific study.
Page four concludes with additional information on exoplanets.
