We are THIS close to finding life on another planet

Discovery reveals we are close to discovering life elsewhere in our stellar neighborhood.

Scientists have announced the discovery of three planets in the habitable zone of a star just 39 light years away. Such planets have the potential to host life, making them targets for future study.

LOS ANGELES, CA (California Network) - Are scientists about to discover the first signs of life elsewhere in the galaxy? They could be. Scientists have discovered three planets orbiting a red dwarf star just 39 light years away from Earth. The planets are all in the habitable zone of the star, which means liquid water could exist on their surfaces. Liquid water is believed to be a prerequisite for life.

Scientists using the 23.5 inch "TRAPPIST" telescope at an observatory in Chile, have detected the trio of planets around the red dwarf.

Red dwarf stars are smaller than the Sun and they burn much less brightly. They are thought to be the most common star in the galaxy, but none are visible with the naked eye from Earth. Because the stars are small, they also live much longer than larger stars. Inf act, no red dwarf star has lived long enough to burn all of its fuel since the creation of the universe. This makes red dwarf stars prime candidates for finding planets where life could have evolved.

How likely it is to find life around such stars is subject to intense debate. Red dwarfs are much smaller, cooler, and less luminous than the Sun, but they can emit large flares that will incinerate anything near their surface. Planets orbiting red dwarf stars would likely be tidally locked to the star, like the Moon is to Earth, always showing the same side to the parent star. This means one side of the planet would bake, and the other would freeze. It's atmosphere might have been blasted away over time.

There are many reasons why life would neither emerge, nor flourish on such a star, but the fact three orbits around the habitable zone of a star, makes them tempting targets for planet hunters.

Planet hunting has become a science with easy results now that scientists know exactly what to look for. However, demonstrating these planets actually host life is another challenge, but one we will be able to complete soon.

In 2018, NASA will launch the James Webb Space Telescope as a replacement for the Hubble. The telescope will be able to collect data on the atmospheres of planets orbiting distant stars. The data can then be analyzed to detect chemical biomarkers, the fingerprints of life.

It is possible this science can already be done if the candidate planets are close enough to Earth, but it is not apparent if this is possible using the TRAPPIST scope. A larger instrument may be necessary.

Given these new discoveries and the new methods for seeking life, scientists believe we will soon determine if life is common or rare, or if it exists at all, elsewhere in our stellar neighborhood.

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