Natalie Batalha: A Planet for Goldilocks

A new era in the search for extraterrestrial life begins as Dr. Natalie Batalha discusses the status of exoplanet discoveries, the James Webb Space Telescope's role in detecting biomarkers, and the next steps in the quest for life beyond Earth.

Key takeaways

The distance to the nearest potentially habitable exoplanet is about 10 light years.
Kepler-452 is a potentially habitable exoplanet that is older than Earth.
The James Webb Space Telescope will be able to detect biomarkers in the atmospheres of exoplanets.
The search for life in the solar system should focus on small, Earth-sized planets in the Goldilocks zone.
The Goldilocks zone is the region around a star where temperatures are just right for liquid water to exist.
The biggest challenge in finding life beyond Earth is detecting biomarkers from a vast distance.
The James Webb Space Telescope’s successor is expected to be launched in the 2020s.
20-50% of stars similar to the Sun may have an Earth-sized planet in the Goldilocks zone.
The search for life in the solar system should focus on small, Earth-sized planets in the Goldilocks zone.
Direct imaging missions can be used to detect exoplanets.
Space telescopes can detect exoplanet atmospheres.
The next step in the search for life beyond Earth is to move from detection to characterization.
The search for life in the solar system should focus on small, Earth-sized planets in the Goldilocks zone.
The James Webb Space Telescope will be able to detect biomarkers in the atmospheres of exoplanets.
The search for life in the solar system should focus on small, Earth-sized planets in the Goldilocks zone.
The goldilocks zone is the region around a star where temperatures are just right for liquid water to exist.
Astronomers are still working to develop the technology needed to detect life beyond Earth.
The James Webb Space Telescope is expected to revolutionize the search for life beyond Earth.

Natalie Batalha: A Planet for Goldilocks

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