Star '37 Gem' called most likely home to aliens

[emad]

LONDON (Reuters) -- If life does exist elsewhere, it's likely to be near a middle-aged star in the constellation of Gemini, according to a U.S. scientist. Astrobiologist Maggie Turnbull, of the University of Arizona in Tucson, has compiled a shortlist of 30 possibly habitable planets and stars and one called 37 Gem is her top choice.

"This stable, middle-aged star is just a bit hotter and brighter than our sun. And if alien life is anywhere, it's likely to be there," New Scientist magazine said on Wednesday.

Turnbull made the list for NASA'S Terrestrial Planet Finder (TPF), a space telescope project that will search for habitable planets after it is launched in about 10 years time. The amount of heavy metal present when the star is formed and its age were important criteria for Turnbull, according to the magazine.

But Gem 37, the 37th brightest star in the constellation of Gemini, came out on top because it looks most like our sun. "The closer we look, the more we realize how (most) other stars are different from the sun," Turnbull said.

More:
http://edition.cnn.com/2003/TECH/space/10/08/alien.life.reut/index.htm

Mmmmm......typical Gemini! middle aged alien, just a bit brighter and hotter

[ewagner]

1. HHMMM.

Any planets around that star? Or, do they know yet?

[punpirate]

2. There's an anthropomorphism at work here...

... methinks. We've already identified stars with planets around them, but they are pretty big stars with Jupiter-sized planets in orbit.

We don't want to consider beings residing on those... on our own little planet, they would be monsters of incredible size and strength. Not what we would want to contemplate as casual visitors. :wow:

Cheers.

[Lydia Leftcoast]

3. There wouldn't be anyone living on the Jupiter-like giants

because those planets are not solid in the same way that Earth is solid. One description I read spoke of Jupiter as having the consistency of a McDonald's milkshake. They're not called "gas giants" for nothing.

Unless there are some creatures who survive floating around in a cold, mushy substance, then we need to look at the solid planets for signs of life.

Besides, I don't know how far away the Gemini stars are, but it would probably take a couple of thousand years to get there. (Even to get to Alpha Centauri, the star nearest the Sun, would take 4 years--on a space vehicle traveling at 6 million miles per hour.)

[NickB79]

4. Well, don't discount any moons orbitting those gas giants

Our own Jupiter has a moon in orbit around it, Europa, that appears to be covered by water ice up to a mile thick. Beneath the ice is a liquid ocean of saltwater over 50 miles deep in some spots. Many biologists have voiced their opinion that it is possible there could be life underneath the ice. Most likely it would be similar to what we see around deep-sea volcanic rifts and "black smokers" found under our oceans. Also, the moon Titan, around Saturn, has a thick atmosphere, continents and oceans of liquid hydrocarbons. Unfortunately the planet is approximately -200F, so life as we know it is impossible. However, it has been referred to as "early Earth stored in a freezer" since our planet was much like that once, only warm enough for water to flow. A moon similar to either Europa or Titan, in orbit around a gas giant close enough to a star to generate sufficient heat, could support life in one form or another as we know it.