This is the generation we discovered that other stars have planets.  That planet systems are, in fact, common in the cosmos.  That’s been proven, it’s no longer a “theory”.  Now we’re on the hunt for Earth-like exoplanets, and of course, the discovery of life on another planet.  We’re all hoping to find Mr. Spock, but more than likely our first true discovery will be something like pond scum in our own solar system.  Yes, right here.

NASA artist rendering of Earth-like exoplanet

The Kepler Mission is specifically designed to search out Earth-like planets (along with studying the diversity of planetary systems as a whole).  We’re finding all kinds of interesting planets out there; fascinating systems, places we never expected to find planets.  Now, we’re finding planets in these places that may be able to support life as we know it.  The variety of planet types is staggering.  In our solar system alone we have rocky terrestrial planets (Mercury, Venus, Earth, and Mars), the gas giants (Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune), then a handful of dwarf planets, or “plutoids”… in honor of Pluto.  We also are finding extremely interesting moons which may support life (Europa and Titan, for example).  How about life on Mars?  It’s looking good for critters in liquid water under the surface, especially at the poles.  That’s a tasty variety, just in one solar system.  There are billions out there.

Artist impression of a Carbon planet - by Lyuten, released to public domain

Okay, here are the types of exoplanets we’ve found to date:  Hot Jupiters, Hot Neptunes, Eccentric Jupiters, Pulsar planets, Goldilocks planets, Chthonian planets (they’re not sure about this one, but it’s a mess), Ocean planets, Carbon planets, Iron planets, Helium planets, and another mess called a Coreless planet.  We have Super Earths, Ocean Earths, more dwarf planets, Exiled planets of various flavors, and Silicon planets.  I think that’s it.  Exhausting, isn’t it?

ESO impression of Carot-7b, this hot mess is believed to be a Chthonian planet

What about verified (or almost verified) Earth-like planets?  There are six scientists are looking at now:  Gliese 581e, Gliese 581g, Kepler 10b, Kepler 11f, HD 142b, and Hd 17092b.  I think Gliese 581g is the current sweetheart of the group, believed to have the highest probability of liquid water, oxygen in its atmosphere, and sitting in the Goldilocks zone of its red dwarf parent star.  I know!  Isn’t that cool?  The jury is still out as more and more information on the planet becomes available.

NASA/JPL-CalTech, these are the planets around HR8799

Scientists have been playing around with thought proofs on what type of life may have evolved on these different planets, and there are lots of interesting programs on the Discovery Channel and the Science Channel.  Some have made it to YouTube, like this one, which is 90 minutes and very interesting.

One thing I’ve been interested in for years is what will happen when we discover life on another planet?  Let’s say we discover microbes on Mars tomorrow.  What will happen?  Do you think everybody will just go about their daily lives and really not think about it?  Or, let’s say my favorite astronomer Seth Shostak at SETI announces that they’ve verified a signal from an alien civilization.  Do you think that would have an impact on religion, the economy (i.e., would we suddenly put more funds into space exploration?), or the way we view our “destiny”?

Let me know what you think.