Earthlike Planet discovered 25,000 light years away...

[DarkJedi]

Richard Dawkins actually made some interesting points about that, I think in "The Blind Watchmaker", even though he eventually stuck to the assumption that life is very common throghout the universe (even though he didn't really deliver any convincing arguments for that). This is what led me to realize that a lot of statements about how likely it is for life to develop are more wishful thinking than mathematical fact.

It would certainly take alot of factors to have life on planets outside of ours. "Alot" being not a good enough word to describe the likelyhood of it.

Of course, I believe they exist somewhere in the universe though....hell, probably somewhere in our galaxy as well since our Milky Way is comprised of millions of stars, most of which probably have some sort of planetary masses orbiting them.....much like this discovery indicates.

Man, I thought I was a nitpicker.

Hah! Right you are, Mr. NP. I think over these kind of subjects, of which I love quite alot---Astronomy, I take things way too literal. My bad.

For me, the important step forward is that it has become a lot harder for people to deny that there are likely a lot of planets out there which are similar to Earth even by your definition - we just haven't been able to find them yet.

Dammmmn right! In that sense, this goes further down the path we want...I hope they keep finding them too.

[neglet]

Originally Posted by MPG

If your interpretation of "earth-like" is "can likely sustain life", then you're right, but in the context of all those recent planet discoveries, "earth-like" is synonymous with "not a huge gas giant". Compared to all other planets that were found, this planet is extremely earth-like.

If your standards of description are that broad, why not call it "Mars-like" or "Venus-like" or "Mercury-like"? That would be just as accurate, for all we know.

The use of "earthlike" implies an atmosphere capable of sustaining life. Let's ask WordNet:

S: (adj) earthlike (earth colored; of something having a color of soil or earth) "a range of earthlike colors"
S: (adj) earthlike (resembling or characteristic of earth) "earthlike atmosphere"

This is just media spin. You say "earthlike" and people get all excited. If they wanted to be more precise, they'd say "rocky planet" or "non-gas giant," but I guess they think the general public is too dumb to understand that.

Actually, the IAU is debating this very issue. Yay for science geeks!

[Bokchoi Cowboy]

Hey, I don't know what the confusion is around here on the difference between earthlike planets, moons, and whatnot....





This is clearly a planet, rather earthlike:










And this is clearly a moon:








'nuff said.

[Space Tycoon]

Originally Posted by neglet

If your standards of description are that broad, why not call it "Mars-like" or "Venus-like" or "Mercury-like"? That would be just as accurate, for all we know.

The use of "earthlike" implies an atmosphere capable of sustaining life.

I'm starting to think I should have posted, "Smallest 'Terrestrial' Planet discovered 25,000 LY away," since that's generally the name given for rocky or solid planets orbting close to their parent stars.

I just couldn't resist "Earthlike." :winks:

It's a question of orders of magnitude. We have here a solid planet five times earth's mass, as opposed to a gas giant hundreds or thousands of times.

I still say it would make a good place for the Hidden Rebel Base!

[MPG]

Originally Posted by neglet

If your standards of description are that broad, why not call it "Mars-like" or "Venus-like" or "Mercury-like"? That would be just as accurate, for all we know.

Yes, it would be. But that's not what people were looking for. They were looking for a planet that was earth-like as opposed to being jupiter-like. They weren't looking for a planet that was earth-like as opposed to being venus-like or mars-like.

Sometimes, context is everything.

S: (adj) earthlike (earth colored; of something having a color of soil or earth) "a range of earthlike colors"
S: (adj) earthlike (resembling or characteristic of earth) "earthlike atmosphere"

Uhm... since I am sure you know how to read dictionary entries, you will realize that "earthlike atmosphere" is just an example for that second usage of the term "earthlike". The actual definition in the quote from Wordnet is "resembling or characteristic of earth", so this is perfectly in line with the definition in the article: The newly found planet "resembles" Earth in the way that it is made of rock as opposed to being made of gas like all the other planets found so far.

If you're really nitpicky about the term "earth-like", then you will never agree to that term being used for any planet, unless it has trees, oceans, humans and Internet message boards, because unless a planet has these things, it's not earth-like.

[neglet]

Originally Posted by MPG

They were looking for a planet that was earth-like as opposed to being jupiter-like. They weren't looking for a planet that was earth-like as opposed to being venus-like or mars-like.

No, I think they were just looking for planets--any kind of planets. And so it would have been more appropriate to classify it as either "gas giant" or "solid/rocky/terrestrial," since those are the two broad definitions we have. "Earthlike" is a more specific term. To use it to describe planets as varied as Pluto, Venus, and Earth invites inaccuracy. After all, the astronomers weren't going around calling the other extrasolar planets "Jupiterlike," they called them by the general classification "gas giant." (Or for us dummies, "A gas giant, like Jupiter." In this instance, "A rocky planet, like Earth" would have been appropriate.)

If you're really nitpicky about the term "earth-like", then you will never agree to that term being used for any planet, unless it has trees, oceans, humans and Internet message boards, because unless a planet has these things, it's not earth-like.

It's not being overly picky to hope for a little more accuracy in description. If I see a beast running towards us and it has whiskers, triangle-shaped ears that point up, sharp claws, and a long tail, you'd probably want me to be more specific than to say "It's not a dog! It's a cat!" Unless you don't think it's useful to distinguish between a 10-lb. tabby cat and 500-lb. tiger when it's running towards you.

[Bokchoi Cowboy]

Originally Posted by Space Tycoon

I still say it would make a good place for the Hidden Rebel Base!

[Space Tycoon]

You should make my breasts bigger.

[neglet]

Naw, you just need a good push-up bra.

[sickness]

Originally Posted by MPG

Huh? Why not? How do you define "earth-like" then?

Sure, it doesn't have oceans, rivers, trees and humans living on it, so it's not exactly earth-like, if that's how you'd define it. The reason why they call it earth-like is that it's not a gas giant and its mass is fairly close to Earth's mass.

I would define earth-like as being on the same order of mass and size as Earth. Otherwise, if we just say "rocky and smaller than Jupiter" that includes Mercury and the Moon. I won't even go into the distinction of an atmosphere which should logically be included in any precise definition of earth-like.