Discovery of Earth-size “exo-planets”

This month’s announcement by NASA of the discovery of seven Earth-size exoplanets was “one of the most interesting announcements in a long, long time,” said Clemson University philosophy professor Kelly Smith, who consults with NASA and the European Space Agency about ethical and societal issues related to space exploration. The exoplanets, orbiting a cool dwarf star known as TRAPPIST-1, are about 40 light years away from Earth. Discovering them is significant in the search for life on another planet because this is the most exoplanets ever found orbiting one star, three of the planets are in the “habitable zone” where water could potentially exist and the planets are very close to Earth relative to other exoplanets. “What’s so exciting about this discovery is that it gives us a place to look now, where we can search for life that’s something like the life that exists on Earth,” said Sean Brittain, a Clemson professor of astronomy and physics in the College of Science. Besides the curiosity humans have about space, where we came from, how we got here and what the future holds, the discovery will likely result in technological developments, meaning careers in engineering and mathematics will grow, as will the need for skilled labor to create the tools necessary to conduct more research. Finding life outside our solar system would tell us a lot about how Earth was created, and about who we are as people. Not finding life, Smith says, “will also tell us a lot about who we are, in very different ways.” Clemson’s astronomy and physics department has more than 30 faculty members and lecturers and offers more than 40 undergraduate and 30 graduate courses; there are 75 undergraduate and 60 graduate students. The department is currently organizing events for Aug. 21, 2017, when the total solar eclipse passes directly over Clemson.