The Alien Next Door

So, I've started a new alien romance series called Alien Next Door. (You can find more info about the first book in the series here.) And in doing so, I've created Google Alerts for both "Alien Adoration" and "Alien Next Door." Recently, some very interesting links have been coming through in my Google Alerts labelled "Alien Next Door."

Reported on October 18, a planet was discovered in the Alpha Centauri system, only 4.4 light years away. And there could possibly be more in that system, planets that could sustain life. It's an exciting discovery for authors like myself who believe there is life out there.

Here's a quote from the article on ScienceNews:

"Astronomers searching for Earthlike worlds need look no further than Alpha Centauri, the stellar system next door.

An Earth-sized planet has been discovered circling a star in the system, just 4.4 light-years away. The planet's mass is similar to Earth's, but its orbit is not. Tucked in close to its star — 25 times closer than the Earth is to the sun — the planet is likely a roasted world incapable of hosting life."

It goes on to say:

"But a rocky planet so close to Alpha Centauri B suggests there could be more planets in the same system — perhaps rocky and a bit farther out, in the area where life could comfortably thrive. "I think that the odds that there's an interesting planet, a truly interesting planet in the system, are very high, given that this one is there," Laughlin says. Data returned from NASA's Kepler spacecraft — which looks for planets around a population of stars that mostly lie more than 600 light-years away — suggest that multiple-planet systems are common, especially when small, rocky planets are found in close orbits.

There's also a good chance that Alpha Centauri A — the bigger, binary partner of Alpha Centauri B — also hosts planets. But because Alpha Centauri A is bigger, brighter and more rambunctious, any small planets orbiting it would be harder to find."

Read the full article.

What do you think of this discovery?

Jessica Subject started writing to encourage her daughter to read. Now she writes to keep herself grounded. Although she reads many genres, she enjoys writing Science Fiction Romance the most and believes everyone in the universe deserves a happily ever after. She lives Southwestern Ontario, Canada with her husband and two kids and loves to hear from anyone who has enjoyed her stories.

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