Moving to Outer Space? Try Saturn’s Moon, Titan

Monday, November 28, 2011
(graphic: Sci Fi Channel)
If life on Earth has gotten to be a bit too much, the neighborhood near Saturn might be the place to try next.
 
A group of astrobiologists has calculated which planets and satellites are the next best options for supporting life outside of earth. Saturn’s moon Titan was ranked the most likely among destinations within the solar system because it is the most like Earth. Beyond that, the best bet is Mars.
 
The scientists devised two systems for ranking planets and moons: the Earth Similarity Index (ESI); and the Planetary Habitability Index (PHI). ESI factored in Earth-like qualities, such as size, density and distance from the parent star, while PHI looked at factors like planetary surfaces (rocky, frozen, etc), types of atmosphere and magnetic fields.
 
In the ESI ranking, the exoplanet 581g, which orbits the red dwarf star Gliese, 20.5 light-years away in the constellation Libra, placed first, followed by two other Gliese exoplanets.
-Noel Brinkerhoff
 

A Two-Tiered Approach to Assessing the Habitability of Exoplanets (by Dirk Schulze-Makuch, Abel Méndez, Alberto G. Fairén, Philip von Paris, Carol Turse, Grayson Boyer, Alfonso F. Davila, Marina Resendes de Sousa António, David Catling, and Louis N. Irwin, Astrobiology) (abstract only) 

Comments

Kaldor Draigo 13 years ago
when humanity goes to titan we will finally create the grey knights, and we will finally have the chance to fight against the forces of chaos.
hermitzzz 13 years ago
i think we should concentrate on the mess we have created on this planet before deciding to move to another one and ruining that one as well, not to mention the trillions of $$ that would be spent to "reconstruct and change for our own benefit", another planet's ecoshpere. what's wrong with people...all that money that would be spent could surely benefit this planet and the people living on it currently. we need to manage our home base first, outgrowing our planet may mean that we are not managing our species very well, and to do likewise somewhere else would be very destructive. we are a destructive, ruinous race, and think nothing of decimating another species if it suits us, or if it means someone can make big money.
Neoncamouflage 13 years ago
most like earth or not, there is still no breathable atmosphere and harsh surface conditions. any real consideration towards occupying titan has to be tempered with the fact that we will not even make it there for decades, at least. let alone supply it with livable conditions.

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