Cornell: Some Exoplanets May Be Able to See Us

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Cornell: Some Exoplanets May Be Able to See Us

Post by bystander » Thu Oct 22, 2020 6:57 pm

Smile, Wave: Some Exoplanets May Be Able to See Us, Too
Cornell University | 2020 Oct 21
Click to play embedded YouTube video.
Cornell astronomer Lisa Kaltenegger and Lehigh University’s Joshua Pepper have identified
1,004 main-sequence stars – similar to our sun – that might contain Earth-like planets in
their own habitable zones within about 300 light-years of here, which should be able to
detect Earth’s chemical traces of life. Credit: John Munson/Cornell University

Three decades after Cornell astronomer Carl Sagan suggested that Voyager 1 snap Earth’s picture from billions of miles away – resulting in the iconic Pale Blue Dot photograph – two astronomers now offer another unique cosmic perspective:

Some exoplanets – planets from beyond our own solar system – have a direct line of sight to observe Earth’s biological qualities from far, far away.

Lisa Kaltenegger, associate professor of astronomy in the College of Arts and Sciences and director of Cornell’s Carl Sagan Institute; and Joshua Pepper, associate professor of physics at Lehigh University, have identified 1,004 main-sequence stars (similar to our sun) that might contain Earth-like planets in their own habitable zones – all within about 300 light-years of Earth – and which should be able to detect Earth’s chemical traces of life. ...

Which Stars Can See Earth as a Transiting Exoplanet? ~ L. Kaltenegger, J. Pepper
Know the quiet place within your heart and touch the rainbow of possibility; be
alive to the gentle breeze of communication, and please stop being such a jerk.
— Garrison Keillor

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