Well, it's happened. In the eternal search for the greener grass on the other side of the fence, scientists have discovered a planet that seems to have the potential to support life. Welcome, Earth Number Two.

That's not the name of the planet, mind you. Researchers have probably tagged it with some funky name that includes a number, but Earth Number Two does nicely for now. The planet is bigger than Earth, and it has a so-called mother star. It's also believed to have a nice climate that ranges between 0 and 104 Fahrenheit. Blessing … A world with no winter.

Earth Number Two is even bigger than our own Earth; about 50% bigger, in fact. The new Earth circles a star in Libra, one of the major constellations we see here from our own little planet.

The new planet is also 20.5 light years away. Wow. I don't think anyone will be visiting there soon. It's closer to its mother star (which makes me wonder if sunglasses will be a must and what sort of tans we'll end up getting), but apparently that's alright, because the mother star is colder and smaller than our sun. No shades, then. There's still hope for a tan, though.

There may not be swimming on the beach, though. While scientists are mentioning that the climate would allow for water (something we all need - three days without it and you're a goner), they're not sure if Earth Number Two has any. Researchers aren't sure of much right now, actually. They've figured out its size, its light and heat source, and its distance from where we are now, but everything else is a guess - climate, terrain, and water included.

In fact, scientists say that Earth number two should have terrain like our own planet - or be completely covered in ocean. If I was a space traveler, I'd rather know these things before taking off to find out. It'd be a shame to get to Earth Number Two (remember, 20.5 light years away) only to discover I couldn't land without having to swim.

But we'll give the good old astronomers time to figure these things out. It'll be a few years before we have more concrete information on Earth Number Two (how many years would that be? "A few" seems vague …), but the exciting thing is, there may be life on the new planet.

I don't think our cell phones have that kind of range yet, though.

Earth Number Two USA Today Story

Posted by Louise.