Meet GJ 1214b, the most Earth-like planet ever found outside our solar system.
It’s not exactly Earth’s twin: It’s about six times bigger, a whole lot hotter and made mostly of water. But compared to the giant gas balls that account for nearly every other extrasolar planet ever found, it’s pretty darn close. And through a fortunate happenstance of cosmic geometry, astronomers will be able to study GJ 1214b in great detail.
“If you want to describe in one sentence what this planet is, it’s a big, hot ocean,” said Harvard University astronomer David Charbonneau. “We can even study its atmosphere. This planet will occupy us for years. That’s part of what’s so exciting about it.”
How is it that we aren’t more excited about this discovery and hearing about it constantly? I have to say it’s kind of a bummer when something this awesome is discovered and it barely makes anyone raise an eyebrow, but people will spend hours talking about Google potentially buying Yelp.
We suck as thinkers.