Sara Seager - New planets around the nearest stars

With hundreds of billions of stars in a galaxy and hundreds of billions of galaxies, there are just untold numbers of planets out there. The vastness of space is truly incomprehensible.

About Sara Seager 

"I’m an astrophysicist and professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Kavli Prize in Astrophysics, 2024.

My research focuses on exoplanets, planets which orbit stars other than our sun. My quest is to find another Earth, a true ‘Earth twin’, and to search for signs of life on any kind of exoplanet by studying their atmospheres. I’ve played a leadership role on space missions, and I’m also working for new, more sophisticated ways to find planets."

The night sky

When we look at the night sky, we can see hundreds of stars. Our Milky Way galaxy alone has hundreds of billions of stars, and the universe has hundreds of billions of galaxies. Indeed, the total number of stars is incomprehensible.

We also know that every star is a sun. Just like our sun, these stars also have planets. Indeed, astronomers have found thousands of planets orbiting other suns. With hundreds of billions of stars in a galaxy and hundreds of billions of galaxies, there are just untold numbers of planets out there. The vastness of space is truly incomprehensible.

Key Points

• The same technological developments that have improved everyday innovations like smartphones are advancing the study of astronomy.
• Our nearest star, Proxima Centauri, is over four light-years – about 24 trillion miles – away. It would take the Voyager spacecraft nearly 100,000 years to reach it.
• The transit method is the primary technique used in studying exoplanets. It involves measuring the drop in a star’s brightness as a planet passes in front of it.