Astronomers are constantly on the search for new planets beyond our Solar System. There's even a search for additional planets in our own Solar System. The number of known exoplanets (planets beyond the Solar System) as of August 1, 2019 is 4,103. Wow, over 4,000 planets! When I last wrote about exoplanets on May 7, 2019, there were 4,023 known exoplanets. That number has increased by 80 planets in just 3 months!!!
Exoplanets are interesting, but what is really interesting is the discovery of earth-sized planets existing in a star's habitable zone. These are the planets that potentially have liquid water on the surface and might harbor life! Astronomers have recently developed a 'fingerprint' technique to help identify habitable planets. This method using a technique that can identify molecules that are unique to life on Earth. Very cool!
Will we find life on other planets in my lifetime? I hope so! I plan on living at least another 4 decades, so there's still plenty of time. Discovering life is difficult, but finding habitable planets first is a key piece in the discovery of life outside of our Solar System.
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