(NPR) - About a year ago, however, scientists announced that they’d found three planets around this star. After further study of said stars, they found four more.
The cool, reddish star is about 40 light-years away, in the constellation Aquarius. “It’s a very tiny star, 10 times smaller than the sun.”
Julien de Wit of MIT, one of the astronomers on the research team, says these planets have a “winning combination” of being temperate, Earth-size and ideally suited for follow-up observations with telescopes to analyze their atmospheres.
Astronomers could get an even better sense after 2018, when the next-generation James Webb Space Telescope is expected to launch. It could provide an in-depth look at the atmospheres of these planets.
Just great. Another example of humans not being happy enough with what we have. We are greedy by nature and we will steal your bitch, your country and now your planet.
I can see it now, in 1849 it was the California gold rush, in 2049 it’s the escapade of the 7 globes. Yes, we’re going to fight over new land and expand the limits for mankind, but all this means is that now, rather than being 3 hours away from your friends when you go to college, you’re gonna be 40 light years. And your parent’s won’t buy you a sky mobile Benz so you have to take the MegaBus. Ugh.
Granted, this is cool as hell and I hope it comes to fruition sooner rather than later because there are a few people here on Earth that I wouldn’t mind if they left. But for me, I have no interest in pursuing life elsewhere, well, maybe a vacation here and there but nothing else. Call me old-fashioned, but I’m happy right here on Earth. I’ve been alive 24 years and I’ve explored maybe .005% of our country, let alone the world. Acknowledging the fact I could have 7 more Earths to travel to and explore is literally nothing but an unnecessary burden of FOMO on my already tender shoulders (it’s 2049, remember).
Read more about the discovery here
