Exoplanets May be More Hospitable to Life with Day-Night Cycle

[kevindavis007]

The search for life on other planets continues. Now, scientists have discovered that exoplanets may be more likely to be hospitable to life and have liquid water than we thought.


"Planets with potential oceans could have a climate that is much more similar to Earth's than previously expected," said Jeremy Leconte, lead author of the new study, in a news release.


Scientists have long believed that exoplanets don't rotate like the Earth and, instead, always show their same side to their star. If so, then exoplanets would rotate in sync with their star so that there is always one hemisphere facing it; this means that one side of the planet would be in perpetual, cold darkness. However, it seems that exoplanets also have the potential to exhibit the same day-night cycle as Earth.


Read More: http://interstellar-news.blogspot.com/2015/01/exoplanets-may-be-more-hospitable-to.html

[Oceander]

That's interesting.  It seems a little counter-intuitive that something as relatively small as an ocean could keep a planet from becoming locked to its star.