We are NOT alone!

We've always wondered about whether we inhabit this universe alone or not, but a side question is lately asked and it's whether we're destined to complete our entire life on this planet, and if there're other planets with the potential to be inhabited by us or not. The answer to these questions can be a dilemma between religion and science, especially that this isn't not just a mere hypothesis to be tested. NASA has reported that our blue planet isn't the only planet with the potential to be inhabited. NASA has just discovered another solar system "TRAPPIST 1" that's 39 light years away from us, with a smaller sun and three planets very close to earth in size, rocky and have the qualities needed to support life. These three planets in particular are very promising to be our escape route from earth towards space as it's believed that they sustain oceans.

 All of these data were got and analyzed by NASA's Spitzer space telescope and several ground based observatories. Nasa’s Hubble Space Telescope is already being used to search for atmospheres around the planets. Future telescopes, including the proposed European Extremely Large Telescope and the James Webb Space Telescope, may be powerful enough to detect markers of life, such as oxygen, in the atmospheres of planets in outer space.

We can quote the words of Thomas Zurbuchen, associate administrator of Nasa’s Science Mission Directorate, as she told a press conference in Washington: “This gives us a hint that finding a second Earth is not a matter of ‘if’, but ‘when’.” But we add that another question remains, whether we'll have the chance to witness our immigration to this second earth or not.

Moamen Magdy Bakry

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