First Earth-sized exoplanet in habitable zone confirmed

[Cody]

'The first Earth-sized exoplanet orbiting within the habitable zone of another star has been confirmed... ' the Gemini Observatory.

[Diziet Sma]

Now let's hope we don't get there until we've learned how to properly care for the planet we already have.

[cim]

Now let's hope we don't get there until we've learned how to properly care for the planet we already have.

I imagine at 500LY distance, the crew of any colonisation ship that gets there will be by definition extremely expert at not making a mess of ecosystems, even if the planet they left was terrible at it.

[Diziet Sma]

Fair point.. though it could also be argued that those who got there would only be expert at managing a microcosm, not an entire ecosystem, something inherently far more complex..

[cim]

Fair point.. though it could also be argued that those who got there would only be expert at managing a microcosm, not an entire ecosystem, something inherently far more complex..

Oh, sure - there might be a couple of initial settlement sites abandoned due to inexperience - but they're unlikely to do any irrepairable damage (if nothing else, there probably won't be enough of them to do that much damage)

On that note: a generation ship story that people might not have seen before.

[Disembodied]

It's also worth considering that, if there is any sort of active ecosystem there at all, it's very unlikely that humans would be able to interact with it. Having evolved to live in this ecosystem, chances are we'd find any alien ecosystem - even if it was a close match with earth, in terms of gravity, temperature and even atmospheric composition - either completely biologically hostile, or perhaps just totally incompatible.

[Cody]

Such a planet would most likely be tidally locked, it seems - could be an interesting place.