Scientists throughout the world have now found hundreds of new planets in our solar system and in neighbouring solar systems, and continue to find more every day. This is remarkable as just a couple of years ago, we had still not been able to confirm their existence. Due to new technology, that is now changing.
It is only a matter of time before we find a ‘blue planet’ similar to our own.That will be within the next few years! As our ability to look at these planets improves, it is only a matter of time before we are able to confirm that there is indeed life elsewhere.
When that happens we will have no choice but to think of our own existence very differently. For the benefit of religion let us for a moment continue to accept the fact that a god may have created the universe or the conditions for the universe to exist.
What we cannot ignore, and no longer accept is that we are at the centre of that universe. As man is now proving that each of the stars in the sky have their own set of planets, it is the same as when we found that the sun does not circle the Earth. We will only ever be able to see the planets in our neighbouring area, but we already know that our solar system is only one of thousands in our galaxy.We also know that our galaxy is but one of trillions within our universe. This adds up to a lot of life, so much in fact that it is unlikely that we are even able to comprehend such a large number. To add insult to injury there is now a growing suspicion that our universe is not the only one!
We are but atoms on an infinite carpet teaming with life. Our continued arrogance that the creator of this wonder is watching us is ridiculous to the extreme.The idea that we are made in his image is laughable.
The continued belief in his existence is in the end a personal choice, as is the belief in an afterlife.The life of the soul may be something that we cannot comprehend, and the search for some ‘inner truth’ does not necessarily need to end. The molecules that make up our bodies do continue to exist, even when we don’t.Those molecules then form part of something else, and always will. Ashes to ashes, dust to dust is indeed the truth.
Chris Mercer 28.09.10.
The article below discusses Nasa’s recent discoveries.
Kepler Spacecraft - NASA
The NASA space satellite project Kepler has sighted more than 700 potential exo-planets, many similar in size to Earth and thought to be solid masses.
Despite the presumption, based on previous knowledge, that planets outside the solar system (exo-planets) were likely to be balls of gas similar to Jupiter, the Kepler mission has found startling evidence to the contrary. It would appear that the gas giants have only been more prevalent due to their size, which made them easier for astronomers to spot. Now Kepler has discovered over 700 potential new planets, 140 of which are similar in size to Earth, which suggests such planets are actually far more common.
What is the Kepler Mission?
The Kepler mission is a search for habitable planets. It is designed specifically to search our region of the Milky Way to find small planets orbiting stars, and hopefully extrapolate from this information how many planets there might be circling the hundreds of billions of stars in the galaxy.
The Kepler spacecraft, named after astronomer/mathematician Johannes Kepler (he of the laws of planetary motion), is a deep space telescope with a wide field of view photometer (light meter). It uses the transit method of detecting planets, which observes the changes in light density when a planet passes in front of its star.
Read more at Suite101: 700 New Planets Discovered - Many Like Earth http://www.suite101.com/content/700-new-planets-discovered---many-like-earth-a271411#ixzz10oW6J7Hl
It's a awful waste of Space if life doen't exist elsewhere.
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