Dennis Overbye’s article “New Planet May Be Able to Nurture Organisms” discusses the recent discovery that the planet Gliese 581g is capable of harboring water and therefore life as well. In 2009 a satellite was launched as a way to detect Earth-like planets. The planet they discovered not long after, however, is 20 light-years away in the constellation Libra and there is still more research that needs to be done before they can prove there is water there. Gliese 581g is in the “Goldilocks zone,” which means the heat from the star it orbits is not too hot or too cold for water to be present in liquid form. Two other planets that were thought to be capable of harboring water were found orbiting the same dim star as Gliese 581g, but then one proved to be too hot while the other was too cold. Given Gliese 581g’s prime location scientists involved in researching the planet, believe that there is a 90-100% chance that there is water and life on the planet. Astronomers and scientists still need to find out more about the density, composition, and atmosphere of the planet before they can come to any conclusions though. Given how quickly they discovered this planet, astronomers think Earth-like planets are more common than we initially believed, and they are going to keep searching.
This discovery may not have a huge impact on society now, but it will in the future. As technology becomes more advanced, people may be able to travel to these distant planets. It is possible that we could discover other species and ecosystems there. As we continue to find Earth-like planets, we could even discover planets that are as developed as Earth is. Also, because the population is continuously growing, if we can find ways to transport humans to other planets, we could hypothetically free up space on Earth by relocating people to communities on other planets. The possibilities are endless. Right now though, this discovery is changing the way we think. For so long we have believed that Earth was the only place for living things, but not anymore. This finding is opening up a whole new world and way of thinking, and it is starting a new era of discovery.
I wish the author had discussed the type of life they would expect to find on Gliese 581g and said more on how they were going to continue the exploration process. The article consists of a lot of quotes and opinions, but I would prefer to read about the science behind the discovery. Overbye mentions the satellite that was launched to detect Earth-like planets, but not how it detects them. I would also like to know more about how density, atmosphere, and composition impact whether or not life could exist on Gliese 581g. Overbye states that the satellite was launched in 2009, but that it took eleven years to find Gliese 581g, which is confusing. Plus, you would think it would take more than one year for the satellite to detect a planet 20 light-years away. Also, if the author should have defined certain terms, like “exoplanet.”
Ally’s review was particularly effectual in the way she included just enough information to give the reader a good idea of what the article is about. She broke down the multi-paragraph article, crowded with quotes from different scientists and professors, and laid out its main points simply; she managed to do this, however, without disregarding significant parts, and while still incorporating certain details. Many of the speakers in the article made similar statements, just in different words, but Ally’s review only included these repeated ideas once, making it more clear and concise for the reader. Another feature of this review that I liked was the second paragraph, in which Ally discussed how the discovery of Gliese 581g influences society, humans, and essentially the reader himself/herself. Her analysis of the relevance of the article content to the reader’s life creates a connection between them, and helps the reader better understand the significance of the discovery. When reading the article, one might not be interested at first, because it is not clear how the material in it impacts him/her, but Ally’s second paragraph makes apparent the fact that it does. Finally, I thought that Ally’s writing in general was excellent throughout the review. She organized her ideas well, and every sentence was lucid. The overall structure of her review, as well as her choice of words, further helped the reader grasp what the article is about.
ReplyDeleteAlthough the review had many strong points, there were a few areas in which it could be improved. I thought the review would have been more effective if Ally had addressed the end of the article, when Sara Seager gave her opinion about the chances of actually finding life on Gliese 581g. In the rest of the article, scientists said they believe that there’s a 90 to 100 % chance that the planet holds water, and seemed excited about it, but Seager suggested that it’s still not enough for the planet to be worth follow-up research. Ally’s review would have been more interesting if she included this contrast of opinion. Also, she could have been a little more clear and specific when talking about the other two planets orbiting Gliese 581 that were thought to have been capable of harboring water, and about the means by which scientists intend to continue their research.
I was really impressed by the fact that most scientists are so confident in the possibility of Gliese 581g being a home for life of some kind. I have always thought of all scientists as being skeptical, but the ones quoted in the article seemed to have a lot of faith in the capabilities of this new discovery. It is amazing that the location of the planet in the middle of the Goldilocks zone yields so perfect an atmosphere for liquid to form on its surface.