The search is on to find a second earth. The exact circumstances that have led to our planet being habitable by life include the fact that we are of a certain size, a certain distance from our sun and have an atmosphere rich in hydrogen. Whilst there is a potential for life to form on other planets, taking forms we could never fathom or even imagine at this stage,the biggest chances of their being intelligent life would be on planets that resemble our own.
Already,over a thousand planets have been found that are a similar proportionate distance from their star as we are to our sun.In turn, even more interestingly, a number of these planets appear to be a similar size to earth.
More and more, scientists and astrologers are also finding that planets may not necessarily behave in a way that we might think of as normal. After all, we form conclusions of what is normal by the things we see around us, but the more that we look into the night sky, the more it is starting to seem like maybe our solar system is the exception to the rule as opposed to the rule itself. This opens up an even vaster array of potential for finding potentially populated planets.
Understanding our own solar system is easy. Using astronomical telescopes, even amateurs can glean a huge amount of information about how it appears the universe works. However, with more powerful telescopes, seeing a far greater cross-section of the universe allows us to realise that we still know very little about the way planets become what they are.
With the search for a second earth will come many more discoveries about life and the universe. Even amateurs with amateur telescopes are often helping inform science in many new ways. So, if you use astronomical telescopes to look out into the night sky, don’t let what you think you know inform what you see. If you open your mind, you may well just be surprised by what you find out there.