Libby Hobday

Scientists, also known as PLANET HUNTERS (appropriately), released information today that they had found 2 exoplanets very similar to our home “Mother Earth”.

In case you are wondering - a exoplanet is located waaaaay beyond the Solar System, and orbits a star other than the Sun. How smart do I sound?

One of the newly discovered smallest exoplanets named Gliese 581 e, (kind of a weird name), is very close to it’s nearest star, named appropriately Gliese 581, making it too hot to sustain surface life. Balls!

This is very unfortunate information for my imagination.

However, the other planet named Gliese 581 d  is also a Earth like planet which possibly has a large and deep ocean; and where there is water there can be life!!

Maybe there is a colony of sharks, and whales, and seahorses, and mermaids, and harp seals, and Loch Ness monsters, and Nemo fishes, and lots of other creatures flourishing deep in the ocean out there?

I hope there are seals that are protected  on “Gliese 581 d” who are not being bludgeoned to death by the Canadian “death men”, like on our planet.

Help Stop the Seal Slaughter here. 

Either way, both “Gliese 581 e”, and “Gliese 581 d” are both located over 20 light years away which is approximately 120 trillion miles, so it’s not like any humans will be visiting there soon to investigate! 

This is a phenomenal discovery for us proving that we are slowly progressing in the detection of planets just like ours. 

As my grandma used to sing to me when I was a little little girl - “the moon and the stars, the moon and the stars, the moon and the stars”.

(picture courteous of European Southern Observatory)