Extraterrestrial Liquid Water - Extrasolar Habitable Zone Candidates For Water

Extrasolar Habitable Zone Candidates For Water

Most known extrasolar planetary systems appear to have very different compositions to the Solar System, though there is probably sample bias arising from the detection methods.

The goal of current searches is to find Earth-sized planets in the habitable zone of their planetary systems (also sometimes called the Goldilocks zone). Planets with oceans could include Earth-sized moons of giant planets, though it remains speculative whether such 'moons' really exist. The Kepler telescope might be sensitive enough to detect them. But there is evidence that rocky planets hosting water may be commonplace throughout the Milky Way.

Read more about this topic:  Extraterrestrial Liquid Water

Famous quotes containing the words habitable, zone, candidates and/or water:

    Where on the globe can there be found an area of equal extent with that occupied by the bulk of our States, so fertile and so rich and varied in its productions, and at the same time so habitable by the European, as this is?
    Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)

    He who, from zone to zone,
    Guides through the boundless sky thy certain flight,
    In the long way that I must tread alone,
    Will lead my steps aright.
    William Cullen Bryant (1794–1878)

    The difficulty is no longer to find candidates for the offices, but offices for the candidates.
    Thomas Jefferson (1743–1826)

    When peaceful clouds were reflected in the paddies
    and the water buffalo stepped surely along terraces,
    maybe fathers told their sons old tales.
    When bombs smashed those mirrors
    there was time only to scream.
    Denise Levertov (b. 1923)