posted on Apr, 23 2009 @ 03:20 AM
Originally posted by nzldude
NewScientist Article
hope this helps
it does - thanks!
The fact that it is not "Earthlike" is pretty irrelevant to the bigger picture.
If Gliese 581d is indeed made up of mostly water it could still be a pretty compelling candidate for life even if it was tidally locked.
At least one side of that planet should be at the right temperature for life at some depth. And if it was completely homogeneous (i.e. covered in
water) and
not rotating wouldn't that actually make the overall climate a lot more stable?
Even if it was completely frozen on one side - it would be like a big puddle of water sitting on permafrost underneath a heat lamp...
Sounds like a pretty interesting Petri dish to me.