“The planetary system around the red dwarf Gliese 581, one of the closest stars to the Sun in the galaxy, has been the subject of several studies aiming to detect the first potentially habitable exoplanet. Two candidates have already been discarded, but a third planet, Gliese 581d, can be considered the first confirmed exoplanet that could support Earth-like life. This is the conclusion of a team of scientists from the Institut Pierre Simon Laplace (CNRS, UPMC, ENS Paris, Ecole Polytechnique) in Paris, France, whose study is published in The Astrophysical Journal Letters.

Are there other planets inhabited like Earth, or at least habitable? The discovery of the first habitable planet has become a quest for many astrophysicists who look for rocky planets in the “habitable zone” around stars, the range of distances in which planets are neither too cold nor too hot for life to flourish.”

First Habitable Exoplanet? Climate Simulation Reveals New Candidate That Could Support Earth-Like Life

Throat of Fire

Molten lava streams from the cone of Tungurahua volcano on April 26. Tungurahua is one of eight active volcanoes in Ecuador. Less than 80 miles (130 kilometers) to the north, the active Cotopaxi volcano threatens more than a million people living in the Andes highlands.

Photograph by Soledad Contreras, European Pressphoto Agency

Circles Of Life

Photograph courtesy NASA and NASA Earth Observatory

“Fields near the city of Perdizes, in the Minas Gerais state of Brazil, are seen in a 2011 astronaut photograph.”

Total Solar Eclipse

“The sun’s outermost region, called the corona, shines like a halo around the moon during a total solar eclipse. Such eclipses occur when a new moon passes in front of the sun. They don’t happen often—only about once a year—since the tilted orbits of the sun, moon, and Earth make their alignment rare. Total solar eclipses are of special interest to astronomers because it is the only time the sun’s corona can be seen from the Earth’s surface.”