- 2 hours ago
Deep in the cosmos, astronomers have spotted something that shouldn't be possible — a planet so similar to Earth it could be mistaken for our own. Lush greenery, flowing oceans, swirling clouds... every signature we associate with life is present, glowing back at us from light-years away. And the most astonishing part? Early data suggests this world may not be empty at all.
Category
🎈
FunTranscript
00:00For decades now, scientists have been discovering new planets outside our solar system.
00:04By 2023, we've found more than 5,000 of them, and many of these exoplanets could potentially even have life.
00:12Now, if you're ready for a wild ride through space, let's find out what potentially habitable planets we've discovered in
00:19the last few years.
00:21LP 890-9b and LP 890-9c
00:27Buckle up, because we're heading to LP 890-9, a red dwarf star located a whopping 105 light-years away
00:35from Earth.
00:35This star is quite cool compared to our sun, in terms of temperature, of course.
00:40It has a temperature of about 4,700 degrees Fahrenheit.
00:44Now, this little guy may be small, but is packed with surprises.
00:48For example, two exoplanets orbiting around it.
00:52Moreover, both of these planets are likely terrestrial, meaning they are rocky, just like Earth.
00:59First up, we have LP 90-9b, which was discovered in 2022 using the TESS telescope and later confirmed by
01:07the Speculoos telescope.
01:09This planet is a super-Earth, weighing in at about 13 times the mass of our own planet.
01:15It's also slightly bigger than Earth, with a radius about 1.3 times larger.
01:21And if you thought Mercury's orbit around the sun was quick, just wait until you hear about LP 890-9b.
01:28It takes about three days to complete one lap around its star.
01:32Imagine falling asleep in freezing winter and waking up in hot summer.
01:37But the real showstopper here is LP 890-9c.
01:43This one was discovered by the Speculoos telescope.
01:46It's a bit further out from the star and takes a leisurely 2.5 times longer to orbit than LP
01:52890-9b.
01:55It's also a bit larger than Earth.
01:58But its real claim to fame is its location within the habitable zone of its star.
02:03That means it could potentially have liquid water on its surface and a climate suitable for life.
02:09Now this planet becomes a prime candidate for studying its atmosphere using the James Webb Space Telescope.
02:16But hold on.
02:18It's not all sunshine and rainbows for LP 890-9c.
02:22It's also really close to its star, meaning it's full of radiation that could potentially make it less habitable.
02:30And to top it off, it's tidally locked, just like our moon.
02:34That means one side of the planet is always facing the star and is incredibly hot, while the other is
02:40always in the dark and really cold.
02:44Scientific models suggest that this planet could be more like Venus in terms of its atmosphere and climate.
02:50And Venus is, you know, isn't known for being human-friendly.
02:54But despite these challenges, LP 890-9c is still a fascinating exoplanet worth studying further.
03:02Who knows what secrets it may hold?
03:05Let's move on to the next candidates.
03:09GJ-1002b and GJ-1002c, an international team of scientists, led by researchers at the Instituto de Astrofisica de Canarias,
03:20has found two Earth-like planets just 16 light-years away from our solar system.
03:25They both orbit a red dwarf star called GJ-1002.
03:30Our sun is a yellow dwarf, which means that GJ-1002 is much cooler and fainter than our own sun.
03:37But that's okay.
03:38Both planets are very close to its star, so it shouldn't be too cold or dark on them.
03:45These planets, called GJ-1002b and GJ-1002c, are both in the habitability zone of their star,
03:53meaning they could potentially support life.
03:56Also, both of them have masses similar to that of Earth.
04:01GJ-1002b is the inner planet and takes about 10 days to orbit its star,
04:07while GJ-1002c takes a little over 21 days.
04:12These planets are great candidates for studying their atmospheres
04:15and could even be targets for future missions to search for signs of life.
04:20The most important thing is that these two planets could potentially support life,
04:25and that's pretty cool.
04:26Plus, the fact that they're located so close to us means that we might be able to visit them someday.
04:32Well, maybe not us personally, but you know.
04:35And maybe one day, we'll even find some extraterrestrial life on one of these planets.
04:41Now, that would be out of this world.
04:43But moving on to the next one.
04:46Kepler-1649c
04:48Kepler-1649c, also known as the Lost Exoplanet, was rediscovered in 2022 by scientists using data from NASA's Kepler spacecraft.
05:00This exoplanet is located about 300 light-years away from Earth and orbits a small, cool star called Kepler-1649.
05:09It's about the same size as Earth, and just like the previous ones, it's located in the habitable zone of
05:15its star.
05:16Initially, the data about this planet was discarded.
05:20A special computer program called RoboVetter, written to automatically sift through the volumes of Kepler data,
05:27labeled this candidate as a false positive.
05:30In other words, the program thought it was just some kind of an error or interference.
05:35Fortunately, the researchers double-checked such things, and when rechecking the data, they managed to rescue poor Kepler-1649c.
05:44Now, we know that this is a terrestrial planet, just like Earth.
05:47And if it really does contain water, there could even be life there.
05:51But don't pack your bags just yet.
05:53There are still many unknowns about Kepler-1649c.
05:58For example, we don't know what its atmosphere is like or what kind of surface it has.
06:03It's also possible that the planet is tidally locked, just like LP-890-9c.
06:10That would be, uh, unpleasant.
06:12That's why Kepler-1649c is definitely worth further study.
06:18Maybe it turns out to be a perfect place for us to set up a vacation home in the future.
06:23Just make sure to bring plenty of sunscreen, since the planet is pretty close to its star, and things could
06:29get pretty… toasty.
06:33Kepler-1638b This exoplanet is located about 5,000 light-years from Earth in the constellation Cygnus.
06:41It's also located in the habitable zone of its star.
06:45It was discovered in 2020 by the Kepler spacecraft through the process called transiting.
06:50They basically take a bunch of photos of the star at different times.
06:55After that, the programs analyze these photos and look for small spots and dots on them.
07:00These tiny dips in brightness may mean that a planet was passing by the star.
07:07Kepler-1638b is a bit of an oddball compared to most exoplanets we've found so far.
07:12It's about 4 times the mass of Earth and has a radius about 2 times that of Earth, making it
07:18a super-Earth exoplanet.
07:20Its orbital period is about 260 days, which is quite close to our Earth, and that's great!
07:27Finally, at least somewhere winter and summer will flow normally.
07:33Kepler-1638b could have some liquid water there.
07:36That's why it's also a good candidate for further study, to see if it could potentially support life.
07:42Let's hope that we'll find out more about this planet in the future.
07:46And finally, the last one.
07:50Kepler-438b
07:51Kepler-438b is an exoplanet located approximately 640 light-years away from Earth in the constellation Lyra.
08:01It was discovered in 2015 by the Kepler Space Telescope.
08:05One of the most interesting things about Kepler-438b is its size and location.
08:11It's about the same size as Earth and also orbits within the habitable zone of its star.
08:17But there are a few catches.
08:19For one, Kepler-438b orbits around a red dwarf star, which are known for their high levels of solar radiation
08:26and flare-ups.
08:28This could make the surface of the planet too hostile for life as we know it.
08:32In addition, Kepler-438b has a much shorter year, only around 35 Earth days long.
08:39This could lead to extreme temperature fluctuations on the planet's surface.
08:43But maybe it's home to some hardy extraterrestrial lifeforms that have adapted to its unique conditions.
08:50Or maybe not.
08:51Either way, it's definitely worth keeping an eye on.
08:54This is a small list of exoplanets that we've discovered in recent years.
08:59Now, with the use of new technologies, we'll be able to find new exoplanets much more often.
09:04Let's hope that at least a few of them will really be inhabited.
09:09The only life that we are certain about so far in the entire universe is on planet Earth.
09:15Whether that life is intelligent is, let's say, arguable.
09:19But anyway, it's not surprising that we're tirelessly searching for life on other planets.
09:24So far, they've discovered more than 4,000 of them.
09:28But what's even cooler?
09:30NASA has compiled a new list of 24 planets that aren't just Earth-like.
09:35They're better.
09:36The conditions on them are so good that they're more comfortable than on our planet.
09:41So let's examine some of them.
09:44KOI 5715.01
09:47Hmm, let's be coy, shall we?
09:50This wonderful planet is in the constellation Cygnus.
09:53And why is it so wonderful?
09:55Well, our sun is a yellow dwarf.
09:58And sorry, sun, even though you're not bad at supporting life, there are some stars that can do it better.
10:04Nothing personal.
10:05The planet KOI 5715.01 orbits near an orange dwarf.
10:11Orange dwarfs are stars slightly smaller than our sun and have a little lower luminosity.
10:17Did you like the alliteration there?
10:20Anyway, don't worry.
10:21It doesn't mean we're going to live in complete darkness.
10:24In fact, if the planet is found closer to the sun and it has a thicker atmosphere, it may even
10:30be lighter and more colorful than on Earth.
10:33Now, our sun has a very short lifespan.
10:36Right now, it has 7 to 8 billion years left to live, a little longer than Earth's age.
10:41But orange dwarfs can live from 45 to 70 billion years.
10:46This is great not only because we'll be able to hang out on this planet longer, but also because the
10:52planets around these stars have more time to form life.
10:56Now, ideally, we would need to find a planet next to an orange dwarf that is about 7 billion years
11:02old.
11:02It's very likely there will be at least some organisms there.
11:06Koi 57-15-01 is about 5.5 billion years old.
11:12Yeah, it may not seem mature enough, but that's okay.
11:15Neither do I.
11:16Our Earth is a billion years younger, and that didn't stop us.
11:20The planet is quite close to its star and is in a habitable zone.
11:25One year there lasts 190 days.
11:28Imagine going to elementary school and already getting a driver's license.
11:33It's almost two times larger than the Earth.
11:35The average temperature there is 52 degrees Fahrenheit, which is slightly less than ours, 57.
11:42But it mostly feels warmer there because strong gravity helps it hold on to heat in the atmosphere longer.
11:48It's a little too far away, though, like 3,000 light years from Earth, which is about 18 quadrillion miles.
11:56Yep, better bring a really big lunch with you.
12:00Koi 3010-01
12:02This planet is found next to the star Koi 2010.
12:07This planet sounds like a very pleasant world.
12:10The average temperature on this planet is 67 degrees, so a little warmer than ours.
12:15But that's a good thing.
12:17Scientists believe that on a perfect planet, the temperature should be just about 10 degrees hotter than on Earth.
12:23The more heat there is on the planet, the more comfortable it is to live there.
12:27Also, the higher chances of developing life.
12:30The radius of this planet is nearly one and a half times larger than Earth.
12:35There's some atmosphere, although we're not yet sure about its composition.
12:39But it's probably like the Earth's.
12:41Scientists think that we'll find an ocean there, and it can cover up to 60% of the surface, which
12:47is also cool.
12:48In a perfect world, water and land should be distributed more evenly than on our planet.
12:53A little more land means a little more territory and resources, right?
12:58But listen, this planet is actually very similar to the Earth.
13:02The semblance is so striking that scientists believe we have an 84% chance to find life there.
13:08Of course, not necessarily an intelligent life, but at least some animals.
13:13Wouldn't that be cool?
13:14Now, what do you think they could look like?
13:16Hmm, very Earth-like planet, but with stronger gravity.
13:20Well, if someone lives there, they're probably big but have a small height and strong little legs.
13:26Sounds adorable.
13:27And scary.
13:28But we won't be able to find out the truth anytime soon.
13:32So far, for us, these planets are microscopic dots in space.
13:36We only have some dry, boring data about them and don't even know what they look like.
13:41We'll have to wait until we can find a way to get closer to these planets.
13:47Kepler-186f
13:48This is also one of the best candidates for having life.
13:51This rather cute planet was nicknamed the Earth's cousin, because it does have a strong resemblance.
13:58Anyway, these two planets are like sisters, not twins.
14:02Kepler-186f rotates near a red dwarf.
14:05Red dwarfs are stars even dimmer and smaller than orange dwarfs.
14:10Yeah, they'll also live for a very, very long time.
14:13But their luminosity is also quite low.
14:16However, Kepler-186f is closer to its star than were to our Sun.
14:21So it shouldn't be too dark there.
14:24Well, at least not night-like dark.
14:26The sky on this planet is sure to be an unusual shade of red, like sunsets on Earth.
14:32What do you think?
14:33Would you like to live on a planet with an eternal sunset?
14:36The size of this planet is about the same as Earth.
14:39Not bad, not perfect.
14:41Why so?
14:42Because the coolest planets are those that are bigger than Earth and have stronger gravity.
14:47You'll probably say, but wouldn't it be harder to walk there and even harder to get out of bed on
14:53Monday?
14:53Of course.
14:55But on the other hand, this planet will pull the atmosphere better.
14:58The atmosphere will be thicker and denser.
15:01This means more protection from the scary space stuff, more oxygen, and more heat.
15:07Not to mention the fact that the bigger planets have more space to settle.
15:11Awesome, right?
15:12But, of course, the Earth's size is also an excellent choice.
15:16Another cool fact is that the tilt of Kepler-186f is about the same as ours.
15:22It means that there should be stable seasons and a normal day-night cycle.
15:27Do you know how important the tilt of the planet is?
15:30Let's look at Mars.
15:31Mars is also, in fact, found in the habitable zone of our sun.
15:35But its tilt is very unstable, and as a result, the entire ocean that could have been on it once
15:42now completely dried up.
15:44Today, it's just a red desert, and there's no life there.
15:48At least, not as far as we know.
15:50But you see how important these tiny details are?
15:53This planet is also quite far away from us.
15:56490 light-years.
15:58That's about 3 quadrillion miles.
16:00So, yeah, we're just going to keep waiting for intergalactic travel.
16:044. Kepler-62e and 62f
16:08These planets were called the most Earth-like before we discovered Kepler-186f.
16:14They're very comparable to our home.
16:17Kepler-62e is about one and a half times larger than Earth, and Kepler-62f is just slightly smaller than
16:25that.
16:25They're located in the constellation Lyra, which is about 1,200 light-years away from us.
16:31They both also orbit a red dwarf.
16:34One year on Kepler-62e lasts about 122 days, even less than on that first planet we talked about.
16:42Scientists believe that both 62e and 62f are sort of water worlds.
16:48Warm places mostly, or even completely covered with water.
16:52If there is land there, it's probably just some islands.
16:56Hmm.
16:57A world consisting entirely of islands.
17:00A fantasy dream for some, think Hawaii.
17:02And a nightmare for others, think Megalodon.
17:06But if you're a fan of ancient marine animals, just imagine how gigantic they could be there.
17:13Still, there are many things we don't know about this planet.
17:16Does it have a surface?
17:18What about its composition?
17:19Density?
17:20One day, maybe we'll be able to answer these questions.
17:24And so, that's it for the super-Earths.
17:26Of course, the original list is much longer, and you can go check it out on the Internet.
17:31Now, the best thing about all this is that these are planets that are better than the Earth.
17:37But we also know thousands of other exoplanets that are just close enough to ours.
17:42And the odds are, a few of them have at least some form of life.
17:47But they're very, very far away.
17:49So we have no way to check it out right now.
17:53Perhaps, down the road, we'll find some cool creatures on many of them.
17:58The James Webb Space Telescope, an astounding piece of equipment built to outperform the Hubble Space Telescope,
18:04has made a terrifying and amazing discovery that might completely change our perception of the Universe.
18:11It has successfully detected a faint glow coming from a staggering 7 trillion miles away.
18:16Can this glow be shining city lights coming from some mysterious extraterrestrial world galaxies away from us?
18:23Well, let's start from the beginning.
18:26A few years ago, NASA's Infrared Spitzer Space Telescope helped us spot a family of seven rocky exoplanets orbiting the
18:33same star.
18:34This star is known as TRAPPIST-1.
18:37And recently, our new infrared powerhouse, the James Webb Telescope,
18:41has measured the temperature of one of those distant worlds.
18:44It was a planet called TRAPPIST-1b.
18:47Unfortunately, it turned out that this Earth-like planet was totally uninhabitable.
18:53Astronomers took James Webb's mid-infrared camera, called MIRI,
18:56and looked at the planet's thermal emissions.
18:59We can picture the whole process as scientists using heat-sensing terminator vision.
19:05The results were quite disappointing.
19:07TRAPPIST-1b turned out to be scorching.
19:10Its average temperature was around 450 degrees F.
19:14That's as hot as in an oven.
19:16Plus, the planet most likely doesn't have any atmosphere.
19:19At the same time, this discovery was another record-breaking first for the telescope,
19:24which had already produced some newsworthy results by that time.
19:27It was the first time researchers detected any form of light emitted by a small and relatively cool exoplanet,
19:34similar to the rocky planets in our own solar system.
19:37No previous telescope had enough sensitivity to measure such dim, mid-infrared light.
19:42When seven TRAPPIST-1 exoplanets were first discovered,
19:47the astronomical community was ecstatic.
19:49That's because all those faraway worlds were about the size of our home planet
19:53and located in their star's habitable zone.
19:56It's the region that is just the right distance away from a star for liquid water
20:00to exist on a planet's surface.
20:03Thus, the planetary system became the best place to look for rocky planets with an atmosphere.
20:08But don't get too excited yet.
20:10These planets aren't likely to become new worlds for humans to explore.
20:14Mostly because the TRAPPIST-1 planets are totally out of our reach at the moment.
20:19They're just too far away, at a whopping 235 trillion miles away.
20:23Their star is also much smaller and redder than our sun.
20:27It's classified as an M-dwarf star.
20:29In our home Milky Way galaxy, there are twice as many of such stars as there are stars like the
20:34sun.
20:34And they're also twice as likely to have rocky planets orbiting them.
20:38It's probably not surprising that astronomers are very interested in such stars.
20:42They're the main targets for seeking potentially habitable planets.
20:46And it's also way easier and more convenient to observe rocky planets around such smaller stars.
20:51But there's a catch.
20:53M-dwarfs are more active than our sun.
20:55They frequently flare and spew high-energy rays which are likely to be extremely damaging to planets' atmospheres and any
21:01forms of extraterrestrial life.
21:03When researchers examined TRAPPIST-1b before, their observations weren't sensitive enough to determine whether this world had an atmosphere, or
21:11if it was just a barren rock.
21:13But now, we know.
21:14The planet is tidally locked to its star, which means that one of its sides always faces the star, while
21:21the other is stuck in perpetual darkness.
21:23The latest simulations suggest that if this planet had an atmosphere, its temperatures would be much lower since the air
21:30would redistribute the heat around both sides of the planet.
21:33Unfortunately, the James Webb Telescope recorded much hotter temperatures than needed for such a favorable scenario.
21:39It indicates the absence of an atmosphere and knocks the planet off our list of possibly habitable worlds.
21:45But the main excitement here isn't actually the features of TRAPPIST-1b.
21:50The main takeaway is that James Webb is capable of making such kinds of measurements.
21:55It'll help us explore the atmospheres and temperatures of many other distant worlds.
22:10We've been focusing on trying to find life on Mars so much, while there is this gem waiting to be
22:16explored.
22:17This planet is the sixth farthest from the Sun, and the second largest in the solar system.
22:22You'll find it right behind Jupiter.
22:25I'm talking about Saturn, or as they sometimes call it, the jewel of the solar system.
22:30It's so different from our planet.
22:32First of all, you wouldn't be able to stand there.
22:35While Earth consists of rock and other tough stuff, this planet is like a giant ball, mostly made of gases.
22:41If you found a swimming pool huge enough to fit Saturn, you could see the planet floating in the water.
22:46No wonder, Saturn is the least dense planet in the solar system.
22:50It also contains a lot of helium.
22:53You know, the gas you put in balloons to make them hover in the air.
22:57Saturn is a very windy planet.
22:59Winds there are more than four times stronger than the ones we have on Earth.
23:03A day over there lasts 10 hours and 14 minutes because Saturn spins on its axis pretty fast.
23:09But the planet takes its time while going around the Sun.
23:12A year there equals 29 Earth years.
23:15Saturn's radius is more than 36,000 miles.
23:17It means the gas giant is nine times wider than our planet.
23:20If Earth was the size of a nickel, Saturn would be as big as a volleyball.
23:25Even though some of our planets in our solar system also have rings, Saturn's are the most spectacular ones.
23:31You can even see its rings from Earth.
23:34And no, you don't have to be a scientist with insanely expensive equipment.
23:38All you need is a small telescope.
23:40Saturn's rings are not firm.
23:42They are made of pieces of dust, rock, and ice.
23:45Some of them are as small as grains of sand, and some as big as a house or even a
23:50mountain.
23:51These are actually bits of asteroids, comets, and shattered moons that fell apart before reaching Saturn.
23:56They can be torn into pieces by the planet's powerful gravitational pull.
24:01Saturn has over 50 moons, and recently, scientists have discovered some unusual hydrothermal activity on one of them.
24:08Enceladus is Saturn's sixth biggest moon.
24:11It has four tiger stripes close to one of its poles.
24:15Researchers have found that there is an ocean underneath these stripes.
24:18Water and ice erupt from that area.
24:21So now, we can't but wonder.
24:23Maybe there's life out there.
24:25In the oceans on Earth, some forms of life gather around similar hydrothermal vents.
24:30They feed on the chemicals there, same as plants on the surface do with sunlight.
24:34And not only that.
24:36Some of the oldest microbial life on our planet feed on the same energy as the one produced beneath the
24:42ocean's surface on Enceladus.
24:43It could potentially mean there's life developing there right now.
24:47Of course, it takes millions and millions of years for even the simplest organisms to appear.
24:52But hopefully, scientists will need less time to find more complex forms of life.
24:56There are millions of exoplanets out there in space.
25:00And scientists have been searching for those that could be potentially habitable.
25:04Exoplanets are planets orbiting a star outside of our solar system.
25:08Dwarf stars are similar, less luminous than the sun.
25:12They sometimes live for more than 10 billion years.
25:15That's enough time for a living organism to develop and evolve into a more complex form.
25:20Life might appear on the planets orbiting such dwarf stars.
25:23Or, like with Saturn, on one of their moons.
25:27And here it is.
25:28Gliese 876b that orbits the red dwarf star Gliese 876.
25:33This planet is mostly a mystery.
25:36But scientists assume this is a gas giant that has no solid surface.
25:40They believe its atmosphere doesn't have clouds.
25:43But there might be water in its liquid form on the planet's surface.
25:47Teagarden's bee orbits a red dwarf that's around 12 light years away from our solar system.
25:52The planet's mass is just a bit higher than that of Earth.
25:56Scientists think it may have a rocky surface.
25:58The planet needs around 5 days to complete its orbit.
26:01It means that one year on Teagarden's bee is actually shorter than one week on Earth.
26:07Somewhere far, far away, there's another potentially habitable planet named Kepler 1638b.
26:14Okay, to be more precise, it's 3,000 light years away from Earth in the constellation Cygnus.
26:19This planet is 4 times as heavy as Earth and twice as wide.
26:23It needs almost 260 days to complete one orbit around its star.
26:28The gravity on this planet is stronger than that on Earth.
26:31It wouldn't be an easy feat to jump on its surface.
26:35One more Kepler coming along.
26:36This time, it's Kepler 62e, a planet that's more than one and a half times the size of Earth.
26:42Scientists believe this one has a warm, humid, and hospitable atmosphere with cloudy skies.
26:48There are 1,200 light years between Earth and this planet.
26:51Kepler 62e needs 122 days to orbit its red dwarf star.
26:56Its neighbor, Kepler 62f, is another potentially habitable zone.
27:01It's a world around 40% bigger than Earth.
27:04Scientists think this planet might be covered in water.
27:07The oceans on our planet are full of interesting creatures and organisms of all sizes.
27:12So the chances are, this planet also hides some intriguing living beings.
27:16Or at least, it has the potential to develop life.
27:20When we say habitable, it doesn't mean life definitely exists there.
27:24It just means there are conditions for some forms of life to develop.
27:29LHS-1140b is a planet located in one of the potentially habitable zones.
27:34Unlike its gas companions, it's solid and quite rocky.
27:38The planet's radius is 60% larger than that of Earth, and its mass is 7 times bigger.
27:43It's one of the densest planets found out there.
27:46Since the planet has a big mass, an atmosphere there must be rather thick.
27:50Plus, gravity on its surface is much stronger than here on Earth.
27:55That's why you would likely have problems just standing on that planet.
27:59Hello and greetings from TRAPPIST-1, an ultra-cool dwarf in the constellation Aquarius.
28:04It's around 39 light-years away from us.
28:08Seven Earth-sized rocky planets are orbiting in the star's habitable zone.
28:12All of them can potentially have some water on their surfaces.
28:15The temperature on these planets is more or less similar to that on Earth.
28:19On the Moon, gravity is only 16% of what we have on our home planet.
28:24That's why the astronauts could hardly control their movements when they visited our natural satellite.
28:29But when it comes to the gravity on TRAPPIST-1 planets, you would probably feel good and comfortable there.
28:35And Kepler, once again.
28:37This time, it's Kepler-452b.
28:39It's a rocky planet 60% larger than Earth.
28:42Its parent star is similar to our Sun.
28:45This planet has actually spent around 6 billion years in the habitable zone,
28:49while Earth has been there for a mere 4.5 billion years.
28:54This planet needs 385 days to orbit Kepler-452.
28:58This star is around 20% brighter than our Sun, but has the same temperature.
29:03The whole system is very far from our little oasis.
29:07It would take you 28 million years to get there.
29:10And now, how about KOI-7711.01?
29:15It's another intriguing world 1,700 light-years away from us.
29:19This planet is only 30% bigger than Earth.
29:22It gets almost the same amount of heat as we receive from our Sun.
29:27Some time in the future, people might start colonizing the galaxy.
29:30They would be looking for new planets to live on.
29:33Then we'd certainly have to make really long trips.
29:36And maybe one day, we'd reach Proxima Centauri.
29:39It's a nearby star that has a couple of planets we could potentially inhabit, like Proxima Centauri b.
29:44It's around 4 light-years away from Earth.
29:47And it doesn't sound that far at first, but it actually is.
29:51It would take about 6,300 years to travel there, if we use the technologies that are available these days.
29:57It would mean many, many generations to make a trip like that.
30:00And it would take even longer to finally inhabit that new world.
30:04People would be born and raised on spaceships.
30:07They would live their lives there without ever seeing either Earth or the planet they're heading to.
30:12Instead of trees, mountains, and rivers, there would be only the dark nothingness of faraway galaxies spreading in front of
30:19them.
30:20They would never be able to wander unknown streets, breathe in the fresh air, feel the wind.
30:26The only place for them to travel to would be another part of the ship.
30:30Certainly, such a journey wouldn't be simple.
30:32But it would pay off if people managed to build some more beautiful worlds, like the one we have here
30:38on Earth.
30:38Is that even possible?
30:40Time will tell.