• Question: have you ever discovered a new planet that has living things on it or things that have lived before?

    Asked by KaySof to Tim on 5 Mar 2018.
    • Photo: Tim Duckenfield

      Tim Duckenfield answered on 5 Mar 2018:


      I personally don’t look for planets, I focus on our home star because we know so little about it! However the research team who work downstairs from me are world leaders in hunting for planets! They use the dip in light that happens when a planet moves in front of a star, a bit like how the moon blocks the sunlight during an eclipse. They found a MONSTER planet – see this press release

      https://warwick.ac.uk/newsandevents/pressreleases/monster_planet_discovery/

      Unfortunately there isn’t any way to tell if lifeforms live/have lived on these planets yet, because they are so far away. But we can hopefully work out if these planets have water, which we think means there is a good chance of life!

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