Location, Location, Location

All this whining I have been doing about life on these urban streets is about to pay off. No more worrying about painting over graffiti. No more complaining about cars that go "boom". No more issues with parking. I have my eye on the first available lots on a planet one hundred and twenty trillion miles from here - astronomers insist that's a pretty short commute "by galactic standards."
Researchers found this potentially habitable planet this week, and their enthusiasm was dampened only by a few minor details. First of all, the star it closely orbits, known as a "red dwarf," is much smaller, dimmer and cooler than our sun. The star, Gliese 581, doesn't burn as brightly, but will burn much longer than our own sun. That actually seems like a plus, since I have a paranoid fear of getting everything right in my house just before our sun goes supernova. The other consideration in the "habitable" requirements is this: scientists also count Mars in that category. I'm not sure that I'm ready to put any money down on a condo in the Hellas Basin anytime soon.
The new planet, given the romantic title of 581 c, should start a stampede in astronomy circles to find planets circling similar dim stars. There is still an issue as to whether the atmosphere will be happy breathable oxygen or deadly chlorine gas, but that's why they call it a "fixer-upper." The problem is, so far all 220 planets astronomers have found outside our solar system have had the "Goldilocks problem." They've been too hot, too cold or just plain too big and gaseous. If this sounds like a problem you can relate to, I look forward to seeing you around the neighborhood.