Finding alien planets orbiting other stars is easy. Astronomers have found over 6,000 of them in just the last decade, but very few are considered even possibly habitable. Scientists have dozens of telescopes on the ground and in space that can find them and now even study their atmospheres for signs of life. Most are around small, dim red dwarf stars simply because current technology makes it difficult to study objects around bright Sun-like stars.
The next great objective in planetary science? Send a spacecraft to explore the surface of one of them, of course.
If we want to find Earth 2.0 we’re going to have to play the long game and visit star systems most like our own, says a white paper proposing a multi-century mission.
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