• Question: Is it possible that there is another planet where it has an atmosphere that we could live on?

    Asked by to Becky, Clara, Daniel, Simon, Thomas on 13 Mar 2014. This question was also asked by .
    • Photo: Simon Albright

      Simon Albright answered on 13 Mar 2014:

      I’d say it’s more likely than not. There are billions of galaxies each with billions of stars most of which are likely to have planets. It would be prety incredibly if earth was unique in the quadrillions of planets likely to exist.

      The real problem will be finding one and getting to it. The nearest star is a few light years away which means light takes years to reach it, if we left in our fastest space craft now it would probably take us many thousands of years to get there.

    • Photo: Clara Nellist

      Clara Nellist answered on 13 Mar 2014:

      Simon is right, that there are billions and billions of stars in our universe. So, if only some of these stars have planets, and only a few of those planets have an atmosphere we could live on, that’s still a lot of possible planets. But getting there is a problem.

      The other option we could look at instead is terraforming. This would involve using technology to change the atmosphere of a planet to be able to support us and so we wouldn’t have to go so far to find a good one to live on. There are lots of stories that talk about terraforming Mars for humans to live on, but at the moment this is all just science fiction. What do you think? Do you think we should change planets?

    • Photo: Thomas Elias Cocolios

      Thomas Elias Cocolios answered on 13 Mar 2014:

      I completely agree with Simon & Clara. Statistically speaking, the universe is so big that it is bound to have more than one planet like ours. The question is, though, whether we can ever get to it.

      And in terms of terraforming, that is also an excellent idea, even if it seems like science fiction today. Mars has always been on people’s mind, but I personally think that Venus is a strong contestant, as it is better placed with respect to the sun (lots of ground work needed on the foundation of that house, though!)

      And if talking about those exciting ideas, one should not neglected moons from other planets as well. We believe that there is water on the surface of Europa, one of the moons of Jupiter. If benefiting from the giant star nearby, you could imagine making this little Europa a second home to our own Europe!

    • Photo: Daniel Roach

      Daniel Roach answered on 14 Mar 2014:

      Almost certainly – new planets of the right size, proximity to their stars to have liquid water and plant-sustaining atmospheres are being discovered.

      The problem for us is getting there!

Comments