From: blue.planet.22twxm@spacebanter.com   
      
   Was the Moon in a close Earth orbit essential in preventing a runaway   
   greenhouse effect like we see on Venus. The Earth was much more   
   volcanically active in it's youth and would have put out much more CO2   
   and other greenhouse gases. Did the Moon siphon off much of the Earth's   
   atmosphere in earlier times.   
      
   I'm trying to figure what sort of planets will be looking for in the   
   future that will be possible candidates for life outside our solar   
   system. Obviously the gas giants we've found in close orbit around   
   other stars couldn't support life. Would being in the right orbit   
   around the right sized star be enough to creat the conditions for   
   terrestrial type life, or is a double planet like our Earth-Moon   
   neccessary?   
      
      
   --   
   blue.planet   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
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