The Kepler space telescope, launched in March 2007, recently discovered a hot super earth. Image courtesy of NASA.
Joel Kontinen
NASA’s Kepler space telescope has discovered a new super earth some 560 light years from our solar system. Approximately 40 per cent larger than Earth, the planet orbits its sun at a distance of 2.5 million kilometres. Its surface temperature is expected to be 1800 °C.
Surprisingly many exoplanets seem to be very different from Earth. Often, a hot super earth orbits its sun so close that at least the kind of life we are familiar with is not possible.
The search for life in outer space stems from faith in the power of natural evolutionary processes. An evolutionist will believe that life can originate spontaneously by purely natural means almost everywhere, including on exoplanets.
A century ago, the journal Nature even speculated on the advanced civilization of Martians.
The more exoplanets are discovered, the more obvious it becomes that Earth is a very special planet, created for life.
Source:
Mann, Adam. 2011. Space scope finds scorched super-Earth. Nature news (10 January).
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