Exoplanets May Be More Hospitable To Life Than Thought
Thursday, January 15, 2015 - 17:30
in Astronomy & Space
A new paper believes that planets outside our solar system - exoplanets - may be a lot more agreeable to life than assumed. The astrophysicists suggest that exoplanets are more likely to have liquid water and be more habitable than we thought.Scientists have thought that exoplanets behave in a manner contrary to that of Earth - that is they always show their same side to their star. If so, exoplanets would rotate in sync with their star so that there is always one hemisphere facing it while the other hemisphere is in perpetual cold darkness.The new study suggests, however, that as exoplanets rotate around their stars, they spin at such a speed as to exhibit a day-night cycle similar to Earth. read more