Um...Discovery of planets isn't as uncommon as it used to be. But don't astronomers make these kind of speculations every freaking time?
You've got a point. Astronomers and the like are always on the look out for anything that, even remotely, could mean life outside of Earth. I remember the excitement several years ago when they thought the Martian meteorite they had contained fossilized microbes and they weren't even sure what they had found yet.
But what makes this particular planet so interesting is that not only is it roughly "Earth-like," the first extra-solar planet to be deemed so, and within the habitiable zone of the star it orbits, it also has a large Neptune-sized planet as a neighbor. Large planets are thought to be something like bodyguards to a solar system since they tend to have powerful gravity wells that catch comets, asteroids, and other interstellar objects that could collide with planets. While Earth does get hit every now and again, it's thought that Jupiter has prevented some major impacts in the past because of its size and gravity and, thus, has prevented life on Earth from enduring waves of extinctions resulting from interstellar matter colliding with us. Though that doesn't mean it will never or hasn't already happen.
So, yeah, the excitement and expectations of finding life on another planet tend to get more attention than the actual facts and probabilities of a new find, but there is some basis for thinking this new planet could be a home for life.
Topic: Distant planet judged possibly habitable (Read 3242 times)