Thursday, January 22, 2015

Eight new planets might be capable of hosting life

Maggie Miller                                                                                                1/22/15
Chem odd EF                                                                                                CE12
Eight new planets might be capable of hosting life, by Stephanie Gallman and Steve Almasy
            In the CNN article “Eight new planets might be capable of hosting life, by Stephanie Gallman and Steve Almasy,” by Stephanie Gallman and Steve Almasy, the wonders of eight newly discovered planets are discussed. Along with the eight plants focused on mainly by this article, 1,000 other planets were said to have been identified. These eight planets are referred to as Kepler-438b, Kepler-442b, Kepler-440b, Kepler-186f, Kepler-62f, Kepler-62e, Kepler-296e, and Kepler-296f. Out of the eight, Kepler-438b and Kepler-442b are estimated to be the most habitable for humans, however all planets are much too far for us to travel to anytime soon. The article stated that Kepler-438b is estimated to be about 470 light-years away, while Kepler-442b about 1,100 light-years away. The article said that not only are we too far to travel to them, but also are still multiple generations of telescopes away from just seeing them. The article stated that, “Kepler-438b's diameter is 12% bigger than Earth and has a 70% chance of being rocky, which means the surface of the planet appears to be like Earth's. Kepler-442b is about one-third larger than Earth with a 60% chance of being rocky. Scientists give it a 97% chance of being in the habitable zone, but caution that the estimates aren't certain.”
            These new planets hold great potential as a possible planet for humans to live on, if it were necessary for us to leave the Earth. It is not certain that these planets are capable of life, but it is being investigated. There are many years ahead of us before we can know for sure if these planets are what they are described to be, but with patience and time we will be reassured soon enough.

            This article was well written and provided a sufficient amount of information, which together got the point of the article across clearly, which was to spread awareness of a potential home in the future. It quoted multiple experts on the topic stating their opinion and view on the topic, which was helpful to get a better understanding on multiple views. The only problem was that the article was very vague as to what the planets could be used for specifically and why we would ever have the intensions to live on another planet instead of Earth.

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