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Originally Posted by ken0042
I was excited about this, until I read more on CNN. The planet being as cold as Pluto and being 5.5 times the size of Earth to me makes it not very "Earth Like." And being 28,000 light years away sort of also put a damper of all of this.
I was hoping they said they found a planet around 1 AU away from the sun, that it's around the size of Earth, has water, and is less than 100 light years away. (less than 10 or 15 would be ultra cool- we could send a radio message to them.)
I suppose this is just baby steps.
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It's not this planet that is so interesting. The fact that they can soon discover the planet you are talking about is exciting. When that happens, how far away will it be? This planet is 28,000 light years away (impossibly far). Could we send a probe there in our life-times to look for life? You might be able to detect life (or water vapor) from Earth from the chemical signatures in the atmosphere.
As for Flaming Homer's scenario, mankind has demonstrated no qualms in the past about exterminating more "primitive" peoples. It's unlikely too that alien life will have a human form.