"WaiteDavid137" wrote in message
...
Subject: The Scarcity of Life Bearing Planets
From: (Dniheb29)
Date: 8/29/03 1:32 PM US Mountain Standard Time
Message-id:

If an Earth sized planet existed 93,000,000 miles from a star that was
virtually identical to the Sun, it is extremely unlikely that it would be
capable of supporting life. ....

Why use our solorsystem as a prototype when most solorsystems have Jup
size
planets tending about the temperate region? Imagine what would have been
if
Jupiter would have spiraled in within Earth's orbit durring the systems
developement. Europa which is covered with ice would be the solor system's
ocean bearing "planet". Earth would have been scattered out of the
picture. I
find it far more likely that life will tend to occur on moons of Jup size
planets much more frequently than on earth size planets as they the Jups
so
abundantly found and tend to be about this region. Life is probably very
abundant, we just got jipped with a little moon where in most life bearing
"planets" the inhabbitants probably get to look up at an enourmous gass
giant
ruling their sky.

What about intense radiation belts a gass giant would probably create? How
well would an extensive atmosphere on the moon protect the surface from a
constant shower of ionizing radiation? Granted, an orbit farther out from
the giant would reduce this, but this would narrow your choice of habitable
moons, wouldn't it?

--
The butler did it.