Exoplanet Hunter Seeks Life on Other Worlds
This Jupiter-like planet in the HD-188753 system, 149 light-years from Earth, has three suns. The main star is similar in mass to our own Sun. The system has been compared to Luke Skywalker's home planet Tatooine in "Star Wars."
The hunt for Earth-like planets has intensified as scientists search for potential life on other worlds.
Now one of the leading exoplanet hunters is being recognized for his contributions to science.
On Tuesday, Harvard University astronomy professor David Charbonneau was honored as one of three winners of the 2016 Blavatnik National Awards for Young Scientists for his methods of discovering exoplanets.
The honor comes after NASA's Kepler spacecraft, a mission Charbonneau has participated in, discovered more than 1,284 planets in May, doubling the number of planets previously confirmed by the probe.
The importance of exoplanets
The recent exoplanet findings reveal that worlds smaller than Earth are pretty common in our galaxy, contrary to what scientists originally believed.
Since the discovery of thousands of exoplanets -- worlds that orbit a star outside of our solar system -- Charbonneau explained that we need to start looking for chemical signatures that may indicate life in these "Goldilocks" exoplanets located in habitable zones.
"By studying alien worlds, we may find the first direct evidence of life beyond Earth, a sign that our living planet is, yet again, one among many," Charbonneau told CNN.
The main characteristics Charbonneau and other astronomers are looking for in these exoplanets are liquid water and atmospheric oxygen, ingredients that are essential for supporting life.
Since traveling to these exoplanets is impossible -- it's beyond our current technology -- how do we figure out which worlds have oxygen or liquid water?
The answer is telescopes, Charbonneau said.
Two large telescopes could help us narrow our search for life soon, Charbonneau said. The Giant Magellan Telescope in Chile will be one of the biggest telescopes to focus its sight on analyzing exoplanets, and NASA is launching the James Webb space telescope in 2018, which is essentially like a giant version of the Hubble telescope. It will be able to look at exoplanets clearly without the interference of our atmosphere.
Read more at CNN.com.