Habitable planets: Gliese 581 g?

If there ever came a time when Earth was no longer available for habitation, it’s great to know that NASA’s got our backs. The planet Gliese 581 g is the closest match to Earth that NASA has discovered. This planet would be very convenient in any apocalyptic situation, but is it just out of reach?

Gliese 581 g is an exoplanet. An exoplanet, or an extrasolar planet, is a planet outside of our solar system. Gliese 581 g is one of six planets orbiting the star Gliese 581. The star is in the Libra constellation of the Milky Way galaxy and is considered to be in the red dwarf stage. The star is significantly smaller than our sun. It weighs in at about one third of the mass of our sun. A star goes through several stages of life, in order starting with the red giant, red dwarf, white dwarf, then the supernova stage. The supernova is the explosive death of a star. 

A potentially habitable planet means that the planet may be able to sustain life. This does not mean that the planet is suitable for the successful existence of human life, however. An atmosphere and liquid water are not just the only components that make a planet livable. 

Over the course of eleven years, scientists at NASA have been observing the nearby star with advanced technology. The Keck I Telescope uses the HIRES spectrometer to  measure a star’s radial velocity. This means that it measure its motion along the line of sight from Earth which helps to show the presence of planets. According to Mario R. Perez, a scientist at NASA Headquarters, “Keck is once again proving itself an amazing tool for scientific research.” He also says that, “Keck's long-term observations of the wobble of nearby stars enabled the detection of this multi-planetary system.”

Finding Gliese 581 has made scientists conclude that, “The fact that we were able to detect this planet so quickly and so nearby tells us that planets like this must be really common,” says says Steven Vogt, a professor of astronomy and astrophysics He also mentions that “[their] findings offer a very compelling case for a potentially habitable planet.” Gliese is significantly larger than earth, three to four times larger, to be exact. The planet orbits Gliese 581 in thirty-seven days. Its terrain is most likely rocky, but definitely contains a surface with a strong enough gravitational pull to sustain an atmosphere.

Even with all of these findings Gliese 581 g has not been properly discovered. The planet is located at around twenty light years away. The technology is just not there for NASA to get there, never mind to properly explore it. The planets existence has not even been confirmed.