In recent years we have detected thousands of planets outside our solar system. About 70% have been discovered when alien worlds pass in front of their host stars. Many of them were found through the lens of the Hubble Space Telescope.
NASA’s replacement for the Hubble is even more powerful. And the James Webb Space Telescope is due to launch this Fall.
Kaltenegger and Dr. Jackie Faherty, an astrophysicist at the American Museum of Natural History, have been partnering with the European Space Agency (ESA) with the Gaia catalog of star positions, types, and motions. And they have identified 2,034 star systems within 100 parsecs or 326 light-years from Earth. Now through a process of elimination, they are trying to find who may be watching us while we are watching them.
