Astronomers find planets in our cosmic backyard

By Marshall Connolly (Catholic Online)
12/24/2012
Catholic Online (www.catholic.org)

One planet is in habitable zone.

As Catholic Online reported last week, a new astronomical discovery has the scientific community abuzz. Five more planets have been discovered around a star that closely resembles our sun. And at least one of them is within the star's "Goldilocks zone."

At least one of the planets falls just within Tau Ceti's habitable zone.

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LOS ANGELES, CA (Catholic Online) - Hugh Jones of the University of Hertfordshire says he and his colleagues have discovered no less than five planets orbiting Tau Ceti, a star which is just 12 light-years away.

Tau Ceti is a sun-like star in the constellation Cetus, (the whale) and can been seen with the naked eye. What's more is astronomers studying the light from the star have detected five planets orbiting it. One of those is within the star's Goldilocks zone, a band of space around the star where liquid water could possibly exist.

This intrigues astronomers because liquid water is a prerequisite for life as we know it.

Tau Ceti has long been regarded as a hopeful place, since the star is so much like our sun and it is close to the Earth. In fact, scientists from the Search for Extra-Terrestrial Intelligence project (SETI) have listened in to the star repeatedly over the years hoping to detect signs of life there.

Unfortunately, their hopes are probably doomed. Although there are so many things right with the star, there is at least one thing wrong. The star is still surrounded by a substantial disk of stellar debris, much like our solar system was soon after its formation. We know from studying the formation of our solar system, this means that large asteroid impacts must be common on those planets.

Those impacts would almost certainly prevent intelligent and complex life from evolving since any life there would be destroyed with each periodic, cataclysmic impact. We know this because it's happened here on Earth. Tau Ceti has ten times more debris in orbit than our sun.

Ultimately, researchers have concluded that Tau Ceti isn't the kind of place where humans, or anyone else is likely to live. Still, it's amazing to see such wonders of creation in our cosmic backyard.

Read more: What happens if we find life out there?

� 2012, Distributed by NEWS CONSORTIUM.

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Pope Benedict XVI's Prayer Intentions for January 2013
General Intention: The Faith of Christians. That in this Year of Faith Christians may deepen their knowledge of the mystery of Christ and witness joyfully to the gift of faith in him.
Missionary Intention: Middle Eastern Christians. That the Christian communities of the Middle East, often discriminated against, may receive from the Holy Spirit the strength of fidelity and perseverance.

Keywords: Tau Ceti, planets, stars, life, SETI

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1 - 10 of 14 Comments

Mike Durham
4 months ago
I'm found it very interesting and concerning that there's a large amount of debris as a result of asteroids colliding with Tau Ceti which would prevent the evolution of intelligent and complex life there and that we know this because it happened here on Earth and will again eventually.

On one hand it makes me realize how small and insignificant our daily problems are here and on the other, it makes me wonder is anyone working on doing something about it?
Conway193
4 months ago
I thought the beadrattlers didn't believe in other worlds, and that the earth was flat, and that the sun revolved around it.

Just ask Copernicus, Galileo, and Bruno.
Pedro
4 months ago
I don't know who Dr. Robert Carroll was, but if you reject relativity, you have to place Earth at the center of the Universe, and once you do that, what's the point in going to other planets anyway?
Chris
4 months ago
It seems Justin has all the answers. And hes such a people person that hes even judging people on their faith in something hes apparently never had a clue about. So while these people continue to write articles to be seen by millions, hes still just a wannabe scientist that has all the answers.
Dave
4 months ago
A couple corrections. The star Tau Ceti itself is visible with the naked eye but the possible planet itself is not. The solar system graphic incorrectly states that one of the stars is in the habitable zone but they mean one of the planets is in the (star's) habitable zone.
Bubba Einstein
4 months ago
With our present technology it would still take 250,000 years to get there. Not all that close.
Jack
4 months ago
The information on the conjectural 5 exoplanets orbiting Tau Ceti is dubious at best, per Sky & Telescope and other sources. Best to proceed with caution till more reviews of the slight data.
Jack Bishop
4 months ago
Maybe life will evolve there as it has done here. If there is eventually too much water there, they can always build an ark...
Justin
4 months ago
You cannot be serious.. You are comparing the demotion of Pluto as a planet, having absolutely nothing to do the discovery of earth-like planets, and showing this discovery as an amazement of creation? Please stick to what you know, like hating gay people, banning contraception and deluding the masses. Leave the science for scientists.
Jeremy
4 months ago
Thank you for this educating video, Merry Christmas!

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