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Looks a Lot Like Earth

Is there life beyond planet Earth? Astronomers revealed a new lead in the search for extraterrestrial life last Tuesday. For the first time, they have discovered a planet outside of our solar system that could possibly sustain life. The planet, named Gliese 581c, was found by a European Southern Observatory telescope located in La Silla, Chile. "It's a significant step on the way to finding possible life in the universe," says Michel Mayor, one of the 11 European astronomers on the team that discovered the planet.

The planet has Earth-like temperatures, even though the star it closely orbits, known as a red dwarf, is much smaller than our sun. Astronomers do not yet know if there is liquid water on Gliese 581c. "Liquid water is critical to life as we know it," says Xavier Delfosse, an astronomer on the discovery team.

Gliese 581c is located 120 trillion miles from Earth, but that won't stop scientists from studying it for signs of life. "This planet will most probably be a very important target of the future space missions dedicated to the search for extraterrestrial life," says Delfosse. "On the treasure map of the universe, one would be tempted to mark this planet with an X."

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