Existence of extraterrestrial civilization becomes more probable

One more planet similar to Earth has been found

The list of planets that are in theory suitable for life has been enlarged by one. This planet was discovered by Australian scientists. According to them, the planet is not very big, which makes hope that a star system exists similar to ours.

According to the astronomers, the planet is situated near to a star that is removed from the Earth at a distance of 100 light years. Its mass makes approximately 0.2 percent of the mass of Jupiter, though it is much bigger than Earth.

In general, the scientists suppose that new planets will be discovered more and more often. Within the last year, about 30 new planets were discovered. Currently, astronomers possess information about 60 planets that are more or less similar to the Earth.

However, the main attention is now paid to the planets belonging to solar system. The question is first of all about Mars. Recently, on the red planet, a giant concentration of ice was discovered. According to some calculations, the ice square is at least 10 Million square kilometers and it lies at a depth of 30-60 cm. At the moment, the surface of the planet is being investigated by the Ulysses space probe, which also uses the Russian HEND detector of fast neurons. The hypothesis about ice on Mars was confirmed with the HEND detector.

Without a doubt, reports about the discovery of new planets will multiply very fast. There are computers and superpowerful telescopes thatwill simplify the work of astronomers. The more planets that are discovered, the more people will believe in existence of extraterrestrial civilizations.

Vasily Bubnov PRAVDA.Ru

Translated by Vera Solovieva

Read the original in Russian: http://www.pravda.ru/main/2002/07/10/43967.html