Goldilocks Planet
A Goldilocks Planet is an Earth-sized terrestrial planet that falls within a circumstellar habitable zone.
- Context:
- It can range from being a Nearby Goldilocks Planet to being a Distant Goldilocks Planet.
- It can range from being a Solar Goldilocks Planet to being an Extrasolar Goldilocks Planet.
- …
- Example(s):
- Counter-Example(s):
- See: Milky Way GoldiLocks Terrestrial Planet.
References
2013
- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Goldilocks_planet
- A "Goldilocks planet" is a planet that falls within a star's habitable zone, and the name is often specifically used for planets close to the size of Earth.[1][2] The name comes from the story of Goldilocks and the Three Bears, in which a little girl chooses from sets of three items, ignoring the ones that are too extreme (large or small, hot or cold, etc.), and settling on the one in the middle, which is "just right". Likewise, a planet following this Goldilocks Principle is one that is neither too close nor too far from a star to rule out liquid water on its surface and thus life (as humans understand it) on the planet. However, planets within a habitable zone that are unlikely to host life (e.g., gas giants) may also be called Goldilocks planets. The best example of a Goldilocks planet is the Earth itself.Template:Cn
Goldilocks planets are of key interest to researchers looking either for existing (and possibly intelligent) life or for future homes for the human race. The Drake equation, which attempts to estimate the likelihood of non-terrestrial intelligent life, incorporates a factor (ne) for the average number of life-supporting planets in a star system with planets. The discovery of extrasolar Goldilocks planets helps to refine estimates for this figure. Very low estimates would contribute to the Rare Earth hypothesis, which posits that a series of extremely unlikely events and conditions led to the rise of life on Earth. High estimates would reinforce the Copernican mediocrity principle, in that large numbers of Goldilocks planets would imply that Earth is not especially exceptional.
Finding Earth-sized Goldilocks planets is a key part of the Kepler Mission, which uses a space telescope (launched on 7 March 2009 UTC) to survey and compile the characteristics of habitable-zone planets.[3]
- A "Goldilocks planet" is a planet that falls within a star's habitable zone, and the name is often specifically used for planets close to the size of Earth.[1][2] The name comes from the story of Goldilocks and the Three Bears, in which a little girl chooses from sets of three items, ignoring the ones that are too extreme (large or small, hot or cold, etc.), and settling on the one in the middle, which is "just right". Likewise, a planet following this Goldilocks Principle is one that is neither too close nor too far from a star to rule out liquid water on its surface and thus life (as humans understand it) on the planet. However, planets within a habitable zone that are unlikely to host life (e.g., gas giants) may also be called Goldilocks planets. The best example of a Goldilocks planet is the Earth itself.Template:Cn
- ↑ Template:Cite news
- ↑ "The Goldilocks Planet". BBC Radio 4. 31 August 2005. http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/science/goldilocksplanet.shtml. Retrieved 2009-04-02.
- ↑ David Koch; Alan Gould (March 2009). "Overview of the Kepler Mission". NASA. http://www.kepler.arc.nasa.gov/about. Retrieved 2009-04-02.[dead link]