Earth Planets

Until just recently science thought that the only planets were in our solar system. The reason for this is that stars are thousands of times brighter than a planet making it impossible to see planets around distant stars. Then when astronomers were able to detect planets around stars indirectly, they discovered that planets come in many strange and un-Earth like varieties. So, they proposed that Earth was special. Then the Kepler Space telescope found Earth-like planets. So, now science says that there are billions of Earth –like planets in our galaxy.

This is how science works. Science has nothing to do with faith or belief. There are only verifiable experimental results and observations. Science is often comprised of theories. But, these theories only last until data is found that refute them. This is especially true of quantum physics and astronomy. In other words, one must have an open mind when it comes to science.

Religion, on the other hand, is based on faith or belief in something that can't be proven. The trouble with religion is that it's based on ancient texts, such as the Bible or the Koran, whose validity is a matter of faith. Nothing in the Bible can be used to prove a concept in science. I know that I've harped on this a number of times, but it's important to keep this in mind when we try to understand what the universe is and what are place is in this universe.

Now that several Earth-like planets have been discovered, it's safe to say theoretically that life exists out there in our galaxy and in the universe. As to whether there is another intelligent species out there is open to discussion. We have no definitive evidence for extraterrestrial life, but I'm sure that it will be discovered in the future.

The only thing we can say with impunity is that planets are all over the place. In fact, they outnumber the stars. Planets have been found around the most unlikely stars. Recently a pulsar has been discovered with four rocky planets orbiting it. A planet orbiting a pulsar, which is a type of neutron star that results from a supernova, would be sterile because the pulsar not only has a strong magnetic field that would strip life of any iron, it also bombards its planets with intense radiation.

The only reason that I brought this fact up is because it demonstrates the ubiquitous nature of planets. It gives us hope that life does exist outside the Earth and also suggests that another intelligent species is out there somewhere. Theoretically!

Thanks for reading.