In the new movie “Ahe Mary project“, humanity sends a starship to another star system – Tau Ceti – in a last ditch effort to save Earth from the alien threat. Apparently, the key to saving our planet is a virus that has evolved from the world around this star.
But how likely is it Your certificate Does the system actually contain foreign viruses? And among the thousands of planets discovered in other solar systems, how do researchers know where to look for life?
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Astronomers often find exoplanets using the “transit method”, where they measure how much a star dims when the planet passes in front of it. The bigger the planet, the darker it gets. Another great way to search for exoplanets is by measuring the “motion” of their stars. Planets have gravity on them starslike a dog on a leash, he explains Lisa Kalteneggeran astronomer at Cornell University and lead author of the new study. The closer the planet is to each other and the smaller the star, the bigger the wobble.
Scientists have discovered more than 6,000 exoplanets so far, but most of them are likely to be barren worlds. Most of them are what are known as “hot Jupiters” – large, gaseous planets that orbit very close to their star.
The fact that we found so many does not mean that hot Jupiters are more common than other types of planets; they are likely to be easier to see. But scientists believe that these worlds have little hope of finding life. A new paper suggests that researchers have a better chance of finding a habitable world by looking for small, cool, easy-to-see stars and rocky planets.
In order to be considered a candidate for life, the planet needs to meet two criteria: it must have a rocky surface, and it must fall within the so-called “habitable zone” – the orbital area where liquid water can exist.
Unfortunately, since the book version of Project Hail Mary was published in 2021, scientists have realized that Tau Ceti may not have any planets in its habitable zone. It’s good news for people, Kaltenegger jokes, because it means sun-munching astrophage it would not have appeared there.
But if we were to build an interstellar ship in search of life, where would we send it? According to Kaltenegger’s team, there are several main options. The first is the TRAPPIST-1 system. Discovered in 1999, this small red star is no less seven rocky planets in its habitable place. Now it is a place of interest for James Webb Space Telescope.
The little-known star seen in the study is called TOI-715. This red area is surrounded by a “super-Earth” three times the mass of our planet called. TOI-715 bwhich is comfortably situated in its habitable place. However, this system is 139 light-years away, which makes it too far away even for future spaceships.
It’s very close Near the Centauri. At 4.25 light-years from us, it is only a cosmic stone away. This system also has the function of An earth-like planet in its habitable place.
In addition to the 45 planets in the habitable zone, Kaltenegger and his colleagues identified 24 more in the habitable zone. “We call them ‘marginal planets,'” he says. They are the most interesting. These worlds may not orbit stars at a distance that allows liquid water, but that doesn’t mean they don’t have life. In “Project Hail Mary”, we meet a friendly stranger Rocky, from a (mostly) waterless planet. Like Rocky’s home world, some of these planets may be home to life that has found a way to survive without H2O.
For Kaltenegger, the search for life beyond Earth requires thinking outside the box. We should focus our resources on areas where life might exist, but if we keep our search narrow, we may miss out on great discoveries. Taking a page from the Project Hail Mary playbook, he says: “Innovation and imagination, I think, are the only pillars of science.”
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