Definitions
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun astronomy A planet which
orbits in thehabitable zone around astar , where temperatures like those onEarth occur, allowing for thepossible existence of liquid water and of life.
Etymologies
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
From the children's story Goldilocks, in which a bowl of porridge is neither too hot nor too cold.
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Examples
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bilby commented on the word Goldilocks planet
Not too hot, not too cold.
September 13, 2011
dinkum commented on the word Goldilocks planet
WORD: Goldilocks planet
RELATED WORDS: Goldilocks zone, Goldilocks problem, Goldilocks principle, Goldilocks economy, Goldilocks market.
DEFINITION: ' A Goldilocks planet is a planet that falls within a star's habitable zone, and the name is often specifically used for planets close to the size of Earth. The name comes from the children's fairy tale of Goldilocks and the Three Bears, in which a little girl chooses from sets of three items, ignoring the ones that are too extreme (large or small, hot or cold, etc.), and settling on the one in the middle, which is "just right". Likewise, a planet following this Goldilocks Principle is one that is neither too close nor too far from a star to rule out liquid water on its surface and thus life (as humans understand it) on the planet. However, planets within a habitable zone that are unlikely to host life (e.g., gas giants) may also be called Goldilocks planets. The best example of a Goldilocks planet is the Earth itself. '
--- Wikipedia << http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Goldilocks_planet >>
EXAMPLE: ' The Goldilocks story is "just right" for scientists explaining their findings of potentially life-sustaining worlds beyond our own, and the allusion has proved to be handy in other fields where some sort of "Goldilocks principle" is necessary to navigate between two extremes.
' The figure of Goldilocks made its way into extraterrestrial speculations as early as 1935. That year, the Los Angeles Times reported that astronomers at Mount Wilson Observatory had "turned Goldilocks" to determine how many planets might be habitable. "With identical curiosity and startlingly similar conclusions, the astronomer now is sampling the stars for conditions to support life."
' The "Goldilocks problem," as it would come to be known, considers why Mars, Venus and Earth, while formed at the same time and from similar raw materials, have such different climates—with only Earth being "just right."
' To support life, a "Goldilocks planet" must be in the habitable "Goldilocks zone" around its sun. The latest study, led by astronomy professor Geoffrey Marcy of the University of California, Berkeley, estimates as many as 40 billion Goldilocks planets. '
---- BEN ZIMMER. " How Goldilocks Moved to Space and the World of Economists." The Wall Street Journal, Nov. 15, 2013 (Weekend print edition, 11/16-17/2013)
<< http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052702304243904579198083961140464 >>
November 25, 2013