images

Flying fauna over Gliese 581 c

by

Walter B. Myers/Novapix

Reference

a-exo99-30038

Date

2009-07-16

Flying life forms grace the crimson skies of the potentially earth-like extrasolar planet Gliese 581 c. The red dwarf star Gliese 581 rests on the horizon, presiding over a liquid water sea. Eclipsing the red dwarf is Gliese 581 b, a sister planet in the same system with a mass 17 times that of the Earth. While the existence of all three bodies has been confirmed, it is not known if Gliese 581 c has all the necessary ingredients to support life as we know it.