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‘ENCOURAGING news for George Galloway. Iraq may no longer be able to offer him a safe haven, but the Mail has found somewhere that should have him.

The place is called OGLE-2005-BLG-390Lb.

Little is known about the place. And we are uncertain how well George’s bristling moustache will be received by the locals. As we say, this is no Iraq.

That’s the bad news. The good news is that scientists have yet to spot any inhabitants on the plant that’s a mere 20,000 light years away.

And the good news just gets better as the Mail reports how the planet’s atmosphere and mass make it the most Earth-like planet yet found.

Other key facts that may help George prepare for his new home are that the planet’s rocky surface is believed to be immersed under a blanket of ice; it’s five and half times the size of the Earth; it orbits a star five times smaller than the sun.

Such are the facts. And if this planet’s not to George’s liking, Professor Keith Horne, of St Andrews University, says the plan is to find more habitable planets like our own.

Says he: “If the abundance is high, the next step is to search for life on those planets.”

Or, failing that, to colonise them with Galloway and Pete Burns…’

Posted: 26th, January 2006 | In: Tabloids Comment | Follow the Comments on our RSS feed: RSS 2.0 | TrackBack | Permalink