Earth like planets in our galaxy in the goldilocks zone!!

[welshjon81]

A very good walk through here. Although I was aware there were quite a few 'earth like planets' in the milkyway I didn't realise the extent.


http://exoplanets.newscientistapps.com/

Jon

[Eric Mc]

51 is still the actual number of planets detected.

However, just because you have an earth sized planet in the "Goldilocks Zone" is no guarantee that then actual planet is habitable.

I would think that the real number is quite a bit less than that rather speculative 15 - 30 billion.

[cymtriks]

Lots of planets are in the "Goldilocks" zone.

Fewer have the right elements for life.

Fewer actually have life.

Fewer avoid mass extinctions that actually end all life

Fewer avoid mass extinctions that kill off promising species

Fewer ...

Fewer ..

My guess is that we (as in a species that progresses to fire and the wheel) are alone in the galaxy.

Plenty of worms and jellyfish though. That's my second guess.

[scubadude]

[quote=cymtriks
My guess is that we (as in a species that progresses to fire and the wheel) are alone in the galaxy.

[/quote]

The big issue is time, we could be a handful of light years from a planet that had/will have an equally (or greater) advanced civilization, chances are their last receivable transmission passed earth before we could detect it or they will only reach that point after we have gone extinct :-(

IMO the only evidence of civilization we are ever likely to encounter is radio transmissions or detecting non-natural light signals from another planet (street lights or atom bombs :-)

If we give Human kind the benefit of the doubt and say we're exist until the sun dies then I'd say we have a good chance of detecting another civilization (detecting, not meeting or communication) otherwise I suspect we will go on "not knowing" all the while being surrounded in the galaxy and universe by life filled planets of lower order creatures and the odd civilization that time and distance will keep hidden from us- which is a bit sad I think.

IIRC the nearest rocky planet in the goldilocks zone is about 20-25ly away, 100's if not 1000's of years travel time with current technology and a small probe, space is a bit big when it comes to finding neighbours :-(

[iphonedyou]

This blows my mind. Every time.

The idea that there's potentially other people, something like us, out there. No matter how slim the chance.

Every single time.

[cymtriks]

Life is probably fairly common, it started very soon on Earth. However it took a huge time to get to jelly fish and worms, another huge time to get to fish, another huge time to venture onto land. A slightly more frequent occurrence of mass extinctions would see us stuck at the level of very basic life.

However the real killer for a galaxy teaming with intelligent life is just how rare it is here. Earth has evolved birds, insects, fish and mammals that can fly, reptiles, fish, mammals and birds that can swim, countless ways too find food, reproduce, survive in freezing cold or boiling water, even change colour. There are creatures that live in utterly bizarre ways to exploit every last niche but there is just one, ever, species that invented the wheel.