Alan Boss: I think we’re on the verge of finding out just how many Earth-like planets there are in the universe.
That’s astronomer Alan Boss. He’s hoping to get more answers about Earth-like planets from NASA’s Kepler Mission, launched in March of 2009. Boss said Kepler is like a big digital camera attached to a telescope in space.
Alan Boss: It will be staring at 100,000 stars in the field of the constellations Cygnus and Lyra for roughly three and a half years looking for the periodic dimmings of those stars that are caused by Earth-like planets.
Boss said the universe could be crowded with rocky planets like Earth – some possibly with water, and even life.
Alan Boss: There are already indications that such Earth-like planets are going to be quite common – that is, Earth-like planets probably occur around essentially every solar-type star, or very close to that.
Boss bases his hunch on the fact that for nearby sun-like stars, about a third have turned up what are called ‘super-Earths,’ planets five to ten times more massive than Earth.
Alan Boss: We’re probably going to find hordes and hordes of more normal, terrestrial Earth-like planets
As we look up to the night sky, said Bass, nearly every star we see might have an Earth-like world, a hundred billion in our galaxy alone. His new book is called ‘The Crowded Universe: The Search for Living Planets.’
Our thanks to:
Alan Boss
Research Staff Member
Department of Terrestrial Magnetism
Carnegie Institution of Washington
The term space defines the region, which is beyond the planet Earth. In other words, we can say that space means the whole universe including the Earth.
Stuff like this really makes me realize how small humanity is. We have grandiose ideas of our prowess, but in the big scheme of things, we are a single, rather sad and weak species on a single planet in a single solar system in a single galaxy in a great big universe. It also makes me realize how little we know of what we percieve as reality. Our paradigms will surely change as we learn more.
I am hoping we, as a species and civilization (using that term rather loosely, I admit) can avoid destroying ourselves long enough to learn of the cosmos. And maybe even venture out and discover great, wonderful and new things. Possible even other civilizations!
Keep in mind that once we know everything, we can learn nothing. Said another way: “A wise man can learn from a fool, but a fool can learn from no one.”
if anything this proves at least a little of or abilities, to seek the possible, to challenge the impossible, and finally give i to the clock.
alan boss has nothing to lose making these statements
AFTER FINDING OUT WE ARE NOT ALONE AND THERE ARE OTHER EARTHLIKE PLANETS,
WILL IT MATER? BY THE TIME WE CAN GET THERE AND AND EVEN PROVE THAT WE ARE NOT ALONE WE WILL SELF DESTRUCT. MAYBE INSTEAD OF LOOKING FOR LIFE ON OTHER PLANETS, WE SHOULD JUST MAKE OUR PLANET MORE LIVEABLE!
BILL HOWE KENTON OHIO.
I think most everyone could agree with Alan Boss. After all, words like, could, might, possibly and even probably pretty much covers it. However, I agree with him in that the findings so far seem to verify that most stars do have planets of some sore orbiting them but to date none have been found like earth. But this is because we do not as yet have the technology, or ability, to detect such a small body, but I don\’t believe that it will take long. I can believe that we will be detecting earth like planets within the next twenty years, if not considerably sooner.
What then? The closest star is Alpha Centauri, which is 4.24 LY\’s away. Next is Barnard\’s Star, which is 5.96 LY\’s away and then Wolf Star, which is 7.78 LY\’s away. The fastest spacecraft we have is the Voyagers, considering all time and distance traveled, is traveling through space at about 10.56 mps.
A LY is around 5,878,765,100.000 miles, well, you do the math. In other words I don\’t think they will be visiting us anytime soon, or us to them, but we could possibly communicate with light, which would take four and a quarter years each way to the closest star, which probably doesn\’t have intelligent life. I think that\’s worth waiting for. I don\’t think that we could generate a radio signal that would be strong enough to travel the distance without loosing integrity but we could generate light beams or flashes of light, which has already been demonstrated, and we might be able to compress a lot of information in a beam, say a laser, or just a large and very bright burst of light.
This being aside for the moment, we must come up with a response if contacted in whatever way, or a message, should we detect possible intelligent life on another planet. . Who would decide what message to send. We all know how comities are. We could end up sending “ allah is the profit, the only profit”, or “are you with god or are you going to hell”, well, you get the point. We have all seen ET, Independence Day, take your pick, it\’s a throw of the dice.
Although I believe contact with alien life would be the greatest event in human history I recommend caution. After all, if nothing else, one\’s first contact would leave a lasting impression, for us and for them.
i do admit that once we find more planets that are “earthlike” and if we do find more civilizations, we are most likely to ruin them too as we have ruined our world, i would love to see more civilizations but i fear we would destroy them also
my comment is this all of the ancient themes and historic events down through our history i do believe come from other places the fact of the so called atlantis being sunk is not as much of a mystery as to whom was on this island if it was an island at all. perhaps its size upon liftoff caused a flood of biblical proportion thus noah and the flood not that i do not believe in the bible because i do i also think that the bible is tied in with the things up in the sky we do not yet know of because at one time there is a verse where jesus said to his deciples he had other flocks to tend which i see as other places not in our world but other places literally. If you were to look at the value of religion then it could be safely said that christ appears on different worlds every few years or so to do the same thing he did here on earth if this is the religious possibility it makes for some interesting thinking.
As far as the universe being crowded yes I would tend to agree with alan boss the plain simple fact is that the sheer size of the universe with all of the possible earthlike planets out there and even a few that are not like earth but could sustain life it would be very small of us as human beings to think that we are alone or we are the only ones out here who know anything, to me at age 42 the idea that we are alone is totally absurd not that i am a big alien fan or anything like that I just believe strongly that there are more things than I will ever come to know in my life and i am sure that in the future some where some person will make contact and the world will never be the same again especially the religions.
the only last comment i have is the possibility that alot of what we see and here about things spotted in the sky could be seen as someone from a near planet or possibly our own only a different dimension. I read a book not to long ago on dimensional portals and rips in the space time continuum. I came to a logical thought that it could be quite possible that there are places here on earth that operate like a portal like the bermuda triangle to go to these different planets who knows it is all a great mystery at this point in time but again i do agree with alan boss on the theory of overcrowded universe.
Kirby. Hi, I understand what you write and think. Me being 65 (smile) and eternal young advise you to read some of the Initiation of the star energy (about the 7 stars Sirius, Rigel, Betelgeuze, Pleiades, Archturus, Vega and Polaris). Then download the Kybalion PDF for free. Try to read JJ Hurtaks Signs of Enoch. ( SAY TYRY because it is high science but some chapters are full hit) As I was in Egypt several times I now understand much mora about the interactions between Astronomy, ancient cultures and the signs present on our planet earth. Amazing!
Interesting and not quite amazing anymore. the past 20+ years we are able or have been MADE able to discover more and confirm more. Where in the 1950s or so, we did not dare to speak about such assumptions related to space, we now, 50 years later we find ‘evidence’ but more; we find leads leading us to the edges and beyond what we call the known universe. Not only JJ Hurtak gives information, there is already much more leads and information on planet earth making us scratching the back of our heads. The Universe or the ALL has been subject of writings and indications given by mankind for thousand of years already (Kybalion is one source to name). We become more and more opportunities and leads from the source of knowledge, the Creator to find ways to develop our knowledge. We should however NOT forget our own good planet EARTH, one of the millions of planets of which we know that we are destroying it pretty fast! Such destructors will not be hosted friendly somewher else I guess (smile). We are thankful for the opportunities given to us as already stated by other great masters of knowledge in the past ages who were able to tell us so much about their ‘messages’ Now we can understand them…DO WE??? So, ALAN, could be is SURE for me!
Humans should be hundreds of years more advanced then what we are today. I believe the Free Market System has held us back to a certain extent. Yes, we have accomplished so much with it but look at all the failures as well. War, crime, poverty, hunger is the direct and indirect result of the monetary system. The supression of technologies is also relevant because big business rather make a profit then to help society. Money is holding back our advancement as a species. Oil is the biggest reason why we goto war nowadays. Renewable energies have been surpressed for to long now, time break the chains of big oil, big business, the monetary system in general. Time for a world of cooperation not competition.
wwww.thevenusproject.com Only then we can reach the stars.
If you restricting life to just water and oxygen… then you all who do that are all STUPID.
[...] Alan Boss says star could be swarming with Earth-like planets [...]
Yeas there is life in other planets in the universe but they are perfect beings not like earth . betar becuse they didnt sin its in the books of Ellen G. White. INSPIRED buy GOD to clarifie things and guide us as a complement of the HOLLY BIBLE try her books. There are things she wrote 200 years ago science is just finding out. i like science but i do love the THRUTH . GOD BLESS your stury if is to edify the name of the LORD .
in india ,tamilnadu ,human souls are taken under earth ,under rocks ,even to several thousnds kilometers under rocks,taking old revenges ,vengenes ,conspirancies ,polatics and given different shapes .in sevrages and made like aliens .taking under earth and beating and burning
souls ,grand souls, microsouls or any molecules of human or any creatures should not be taken under earth or any hell for any punishment ,any kind of torturings ,sufferings .and requests, what ever punishment ,should be given on the earth only .requests you to come forward to make to bring back every souls every molecules of humans fron under earth and hell and save everyone good or bad
.please save to every one,every molecules and request to bring all the souls ,creatures from under earth to on earth .and requests to request not to spoil souls and humans.please save from pains sufferings .please save .requests to request to make to stop all quarrells and taking under earth and hells and spoiling souls
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every one was not born with the god’good grace and nature’s good grace of good qualities and the good fate and luck to have good inteligence ,good wisdom ,good qualities ,and circuimstances not to commit ever any mistakes or sins .
request and pray —every human every soul either good or bad ,angle or evil ,sinner,demon , god or devil every creature ,every one want to live as a good humanbeing –please save
request—-instead of killing ,spoiling lives,destroying ,sending under earth ,hells ,if some place is given far away from india .and some thing are done for better to improve the qualities of humans and souls .so that every one can live .
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whatever punishment for anyone .please given on the earth only , what ever it may be human,souls ,grand souls or any molecules infront of every one.not by taking under earth or hell-
REQUEST to request to give DEATH for ME ,MOTHER ,and FATHER ,and even to my TWO BROTHERS,and ONE SISTER to soul,grand soul ,kundaliy ,by giving or injecting POSION (which science & scientits can produce) and shown in the “DASAVATARAM “tamil & hindi india movie.BURN infront of ALL ON THE EARTH ONLY