[Sndbox] Star '37 Gem' called most likely home to aliens

[Charles]

Star '37 Gem' called most likely home to aliens

Wednesday, October 8, 2003 Posted: 10:22 AM EDT (1422 GMT)

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LONDON (Reuters) -- If life does exist elsewhere, it's likely to be near a middle-aged star in the constellation of Gemini, according to a U.S. scientist.

Astrobiologist Maggie Turnbull, of the University of Arizona in Tucson, has compiled a shortlist of 30 possibly habitable planets and stars and one called 37 Gem is her top choice.

"This stable, middle-aged star is just a bit hotter and brighter than our sun. And if alien life is anywhere, it's likely to be there," New Scientist magazine said on Wednesday.

Turnbull made the list for NASA'S Terrestrial Planet Finder (TPF), a space telescope project that will search for habitable planets after it is launched in about 10 years time.

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The amount of heavy metal present when the star is formed and its age were important criteria for Turnbull, according to the magazine.

But Gem 37, the 37th brightest star in the constellation of Gemini, came out on top because it looks most like our sun.

"The closer we look, the more we realize how (most) other stars are different from the sun," Turnbull said.

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