# Scientists Discover Earth-Sized Planet **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [April 21, 2009, 2:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scientists-discover-earth-sized-planet/493842 "2009-04-21T14:23:56Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 19\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Anne\_Neville](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Anne\_Neville](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anne_Neville)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2009, 2:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scientists-discover-earth-sized-planet/493842/1 "2009-04-21T14:23:56Z")
[Scientists have found an extrasolar planet less than twice the size of Earth.](http://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/news_digest/Astronomers_discover_lightest_exoplanet_yet.html?siteSect=104&sid=10599174&cKey=1240322059000&ty=nd) It orbits its parent star, Gliese 581, a red dwarf star about 20 light-years from us, in 3.5 days. It’s not terribly likely to have liquid water or life as we know it, being so close to the star. ---
**Author:** ![Frodo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/frodo/32/302_2.png) [@Frodo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frodo)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2009, 2:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scientists-discover-earth-sized-planet/493842/2 "2009-04-21T14:53:20Z")
An orbital period of 3.5 days? wow, wouldnt that speed have deleterious effects too? ---
**Author:** ![ToeJam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/dfb087/32.png) [@ToeJam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ToeJam)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2009, 3:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scientists-discover-earth-sized-planet/493842/3 "2009-04-21T15:07:30Z")
Pfff… big deal, every day i wake up and discover an earth-sized planet. And then I put on my clothes and explore it… ---
**Author:** ![ToeJam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/dfb087/32.png) [@ToeJam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ToeJam)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2009, 3:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scientists-discover-earth-sized-planet/493842/4 "2009-04-21T15:13:52Z")
eep. Double post. ---
**Author:** ![Kamino\_Neko](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kamino_neko/32/34_2.png) [@Kamino\_Neko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kamino_Neko)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2009, 3:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scientists-discover-earth-sized-planet/493842/5 "2009-04-21T15:25:40Z")
> [@Frodo](#): > > An orbital period of 3.5 days? wow, wouldnt that speed have deleterious effects too? No kidding. (Also, that’s apparently a typo, the article gives a somewhat shorter period of 3. **1** 5 days.) ---
**Author:** ![appleciders](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/85f322/32.png) [@appleciders](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/appleciders)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2009, 3:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scientists-discover-earth-sized-planet/493842/6 "2009-04-21T15:37:14Z")
> [@Frodo](#): > > An orbital period of 3.5 days? wow, wouldnt that speed have deleterious effects too? Not in and of itself. The speed of a planet in an orbit wouldn’t be perceptible to someone on the surface. ---
**Author:** ![Contrapuntal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e274bd/32.png) [@Contrapuntal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Contrapuntal)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2009, 3:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scientists-discover-earth-sized-planet/493842/7 "2009-04-21T15:41:15Z")
> [@appleciders](#): > > Not in and of itself. The speed of a planet in an orbit wouldn’t be perceptible to someone on the surface. Yeah. All the ones that weren’t flung off. Or died from old age. ---
**Author:** ![Frodo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/frodo/32/302_2.png) [@Frodo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frodo)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2009, 3:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scientists-discover-earth-sized-planet/493842/8 "2009-04-21T15:48:48Z")
> [@appleciders](#): > > Not in and of itself. The speed of a planet in an orbit wouldn’t be perceptible to someone on the surface. thanks!, Ignorance fought. ---
**Author:** ![Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/13edae/32.png) [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stranger_On_A_Train)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2009, 3:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scientists-discover-earth-sized-planet/493842/9 "2009-04-21T15:58:36Z")
> [@Frodo](#): > > An orbital period of 3.5 days? wow, wouldnt that speed have deleterious effects too? No, although the tidal forces and stresses might be noticeable. This world is unlikely to have life (at least, as we would recognize it) but it does contribute to a data set that indicates that rocky terrestrial worlds on which life similar to that on Earth could develop are probably fairly common. Stranger ---
**Author:** ![Bearflag70](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Bearflag70](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bearflag70)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2009, 3:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scientists-discover-earth-sized-planet/493842/10 "2009-04-21T15:59:44Z")
> [@Frodo](#): > > An orbital period of 3.5 days? wow, wouldnt that speed have deleterious effects too? [Here’s our first picture from the surface of that planet.](http://www.edwardfrench.com/WEB%20comcast%20g%20force.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![Quartz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quartz/32/267_2.png) [@Quartz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quartz)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2009, 4:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scientists-discover-earth-sized-planet/493842/11 "2009-04-21T16:33:58Z")
> [@appleciders](#): > > Not in and of itself. The speed of a planet in an orbit wouldn’t be perceptible to someone on the surface. Wouldn’t going that fast affect how someone on the surface saw the night sky? ---
**Author:** ![bup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/6bbea6/32.png) [@bup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bup)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2009, 5:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scientists-discover-earth-sized-planet/493842/12 "2009-04-21T17:40:00Z")
I assume that’s 3.5 earth days. I wonder how many days the planet experiences in its year. They probably can’t tell, huh? ---
**Author:** ![Anne\_Neville](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Anne\_Neville](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anne_Neville)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2009, 6:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scientists-discover-earth-sized-planet/493842/13 "2009-04-21T18:02:51Z")
> [@bup](#): > > I assume that’s 3.5 earth days. I wonder how many days the planet experiences in its year. They probably can’t tell, huh? No, I don’t think they can. ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2009, 6:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scientists-discover-earth-sized-planet/493842/14 "2009-04-21T18:04:47Z")
> [@Quartz](#): > > Wouldn’t going that fast affect how someone on the surface saw the night sky? I don’t think it would at all. How fast the planet is rotating might, though. ---
**Author:** ![Blaster\_Master](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/cab0a1/32.png) [@Blaster\_Master](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blaster_Master)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2009, 6:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scientists-discover-earth-sized-planet/493842/15 "2009-04-21T18:17:05Z")
> [@bup](#): > > I assume that’s 3.5 earth days. I wonder how many days the planet experiences in its year. They probably can’t tell, huh? I imagine that if it is close enough to have a 3.15 day orbital period, it’s probably much more likely than not that it’s tidally locked, no? ---
**Author:** ![bup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/6bbea6/32.png) [@bup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bup)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2009, 6:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scientists-discover-earth-sized-planet/493842/16 "2009-04-21T18:42:39Z")
> [@Blaster\_Master](#): > > I imagine that if it is close enough to have a 3.15 day orbital period, it’s probably much more likely than not that it’s tidally locked, no? Although I don’t know the physics, that sounds right. :o Well, then it’s even less likely to have water/life, except perhaps in the perpetual twilight area. ---
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2009, 10:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scientists-discover-earth-sized-planet/493842/17 "2009-04-21T22:00:52Z")
The tidal issue has to be pretty bad. Unless everything is lined up perfectly, the tidal compression has got to be horrible. Look at what Jupiter does to Io and scale up. Forget the heat and light from the star, the planet is probably boiling hot from tidal energy alone. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Tao\_s\_Revenge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/73ab20/32.png) [@The\_Tao\_s\_Revenge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Tao_s_Revenge)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2009, 12:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scientists-discover-earth-sized-planet/493842/18 "2009-04-22T00:10:19Z")
> [@Ro0sh](#): > > Pfff… big deal, every day i wake up and discover an earth-sized planet. > And then I put on my clothes and explore it… If you want to see some interesting reactions of the local life; switch the order you do that. ---
**Author:** ![cmyk](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cmyk/32/3353_2.png) [@cmyk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmyk)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2009, 1:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scientists-discover-earth-sized-planet/493842/19 "2009-04-22T13:28:35Z")
The cool thing, is that if I lived on this planet, I’d be 4,172 years old… oh, wait… annnnnd… 4,173 years old… God, Birthdays would be a bitch.