Life among the stars?


HD 209458
 
Hipparcos spies a massive planet
 
 
Do other Earths orbit around other stars, and teem with life? This old question acquires new force with the detection of massive planets that cause stars to wobble.

Two projects contemplated by ESA should accelerate the search. Gaia will be a star-mapping satellite, a successor to the very successful Hipparcos. Among its many astronomical purposes, Gaia should detect thousands of giant alien planets, and identify stars likely to harbour planets as small as the Earth.

Direct evidence of life among the stars may come from Darwin, an advanced infrared space telescope capable of detecting chemical signatures of life in the atmospheres of alien planets.
 
  
 
  
Last update: 12 March 2002


Related links

 •  Hipparcos (http://sci.esa.int/science-e/www/object/index.cfm?fobjectid=12510)
 •  ESA's Gaia website (http://www.esa.int/esaSC/120377_index_0_m.html)
 •  UK Exobiology Network (http://astrobiology.rl.ac.uk/)
 •  Darwin/IRSI - RAL web site (http://ast.star.rl.ac.uk/darwin/)
 •  Astrobiology Web (http://www.astrobiology.com/)