The Geneva Observatory news release proposed the idea that the massive planet they detected could possibly host a moon or moons, which may bear life since it lies close to within the same distance as the earth is located to it's Sun. So far no moon in our solar system has been found to host any life forms, but there is no natural law preventing this from being a possibility, providing the right elements are present and there is a enough gravitational pull to hold on to it's atmosphere. Currently scientists hotly debate what life on planets necessitate, but some point out that correct geothermal conditions are important, as well as the proper positioning of large gas planets in a solar system that would "sweep" up comets and asteroids, shielding smaller terrestrial, life bearing planets from frequent cataclysmic events. Paleontologist, Dr. Peter Ward, a professor at Washington State University, contests a life bearing moon, orbiting a large gas planet would be subject to more frequent comet and asteroid impacts, as a result of the heavy gravitational pull, in which a gas planet attracts a greater number of these transients into its path, thereby putting any orbiting moons at a much greater risk to impacts as well. Back to News
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The Geveva Extrasolar Planet Search Programmes