New Solar system discovered, looks almost like home
A home for others of the living kind?
With the aid of instruments at the European Southern observatory in Chile, scientists have discovered a brand new solar system, or at least one new to us. The sun-like star, which has at least 6 orbiting planets, is 127 light years away in the southern constellation of Hydrus. This is exciting news to astronomers because they have never seen a planetary system so similar to our own.The kicker-- one of the planets just might be earth size or close to it. 
Scientists have been hunting for earth-like orbs since telescopes became powerful enough to detect orbiting planetary bodies. But like our damsel Goldilocks, they have yet to find the right fit--this one is too cold, another one is too hot, and size matters too. In order for a planet to have the potential to sustain life, it has be just the right distance from it's sun. Why is this important? If there is another planet with these favorable conditions, then perhaps there are other sentient beings knocking around...intergalactic kinfolk if you will. So the hunt goes on.
.
Whenever I read about astronomy, my brain goes into a chaotic spin cycle. How can we as human beings ever get our heads around the vastness of the universe? To say the possibilities are endless is trite, but true. However, being a curious soul, I'm generally in favor of knowledge seeking. We should learn all we can about things that can effect us here on earth; approaching meteors and such. But when we're dealing with a fraction of a fraction of knowledge compared to the scope of the universe...well, it's all speculative.
For instance, when we are looking at celestial bodies at distances as far as several million light years away, we are looking at the distant past. In other words, we're watching a scene in a very old movie, but if we were to gaze on that same scene in real time, the players and set pieces might have rearranged themselves completely. Even if we had the means, we could never travel there because by the time we got there, the there we went to see would no longer be there...exactly. You see what a headache this is?
So let’s talk earth.
Do we really want to know about the possible 'others' out there? It seems to me there must be others, but they have yet to make contact for one of three reasons: 1) they know of our existence, but can't be bothered make our acquaintance, 2) they'd like to get to know us but are unable get here, 3) they are simply as clueless as we are. However, if we ever did discover the existence of 'others', it would upset the world order in ways we can't imagine. Everyone would be walking around muttering questions to themselves and no one would get anything done.
The problem with this knowlege; as earthlings we feel special. We're God's human project, but what if God has other little projects here and there around the universe? He may be that daddy with kids all over 'town' and we would never know it until the nosy neighbor spills the beans. If we ever find that busybody, we would certainly bend her ear...
Who was first?
Does God love us more?
Would we all get along if we met?
Who's the cutest?
Who's the smartest?
You see where this is going.
We're not likely to answer any of these existential questions anytime soon. So why do we spend so much time and money hunting for extraterrestrial life? If you ask me, we do it because we can. As an advanced society with easy access to food and shelter (for most), we have enough time on our collective hands to do some navel gazing on a galactic scale. We're curious, so we seek.
Sometimes I wonder if it wouldn't be better to just mind our own business and thank our lucky stars.
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Comments
Frank--I suspect you're right, there's a natural tendency to assume we're #1. It may be true, but it seems doubtful.
I think we are too stupid for them.. I really do.
I honestly think they have watched Fox..:)
Rated with hugs
I don't think we should mess with other planets, we have a hard enough time protecting us from ourselves. Great post. purrrr
Attilla--I love it! I don't want to be a cow or chicken either. I will start practicing now, and right you are about dealing with our own issues.
Alysa--if they came here and fixed chocolate so it's not fattening, we would all be fast friends.
Jonathan--me too. When I saw this story on the BBC news late last night, my brain was too active to go to sleep. That's what astronomy always does to me.
Pontificatrix--thanks for adding some much needed depth to this discussion. Thinking about "lesser" life forms is not something that excites people, but it should. I wouldn't be surprised at all if there were other exobiological organisms yet to be discovered here on earth.
Lezlie
Scanner--Don't I know it. I had such a headache last night, I had to get up and write. It's a good headache though
I think the very vastness of the universe is the reason we explore space. It's like living on a farm rural Oklahoma all your life, wondering what's beyond the barbed-wire fences and the hay fields. The wanderlust and the quest is the very essence in seeking what's beyond. Perhaps, someday we'll make it to “Kelifornea” and see the ocean. Just maybe! And what an awesome sight that'll be, but until that day comes, our imagination and our efforts are a big part of the enjoyment.
It may be that the trick in civilizations meeting up is getting them to survive long enough without killing themselves. Maybe they'd kill each other anyway, but odds are probably higher we'll kill ourselves. We seem well on our way.
And speaking of our own planet, we have lots of alien species right here that we don't take the time to get to know. Plenty of evidence suggests high intelligence in elephants, apes, octopuses, and others. Yet we mostly just kill these species or allow them to die out without really investigating what they might say or think or how their species might be organized.
As far as gazing into the past, I didn't mean that the past wasn't "there" (and some of this is fuzzy for me, so I'm not claiming expertise). I just meant that by the time the light gets to us from those millions of light years away, which is what enables us to see these structures...the reality in that space, in real time would be different. So I think that would mean that only an image of the past is there. I do think it's worth while to look at the past because it is still telling us something we didn't know, but it also means that we are limited to studying things that happened a long time ago. Since it isn't possible to observe what's happening in Hydrus right now, we would always be behind. You see what I mean? Now I've confused myself :) Definitely correct me if I'm wrong Amanda. I always want to understand this stuff better.
You've written a delightful essay! msp
leaving things alone: not a practice we're known for.
And speaking of astronomy headaches, the Washington Post had an article earlier this week about some scientists who theorize that there can be entire universes inside black holes and that our universe may be no exception. There's no way to get to them, though, because if you try to go into a black hole, you float for infinity (or do you....?). It was fascinating to read, but I don't claim to understand it.
Mimetalker--It's good to 'see' you. Thanks for reading me.
Happy Blogging,
Heather
Keep pondering... it will keep you out of trouble. R.
by the way, my own kind are pretty non-competetive...plenty of love to go around!
as for intelligence...well, it's okay, but mostly we like the life forms out there that have common sense & kindness...& like to share their music & food... :)