#2 Gliese 581c - A Potentially Habitable Exoplanet (1 photo)

Gliese 581c is an exoplanet located 20 light years or 120 trillion miles (192 trillion kilometers) from Earth in the constellation of Libra. The planet orbits its star at a distance of 6.8 million miles (around 10.9 million kilometers), only 7% of the 93 million miles (150 million kilometers) distance between the Earth and the Sun. Gliese 581c is tidally locked, meaning that one side of the planet always faces the star and the other side never does— the near side is experiencing scorching temperatures which would instantly melt you alive, while the far side experiences freezing temperatures that would instantly turn you into a frozen snowman. Between these two extremes, however, is a narrow strip of land with better conditions that could theoretically support alien life. In 2008, we sent a radio message at Gliese 581c which is expected to reach the planet in 2029.