Directions to the Nearest Alien Earth-like Planet

Sarah Ballard

University of Washington

Astronomers used to hedge at the question of whether the Sun and its system of planets are unusual in the cosmos. The study of exoplanets – planets around other stars – is relatively new. State-of- the-art instruments just brush up against the sensitivity to find planets similar to our very own planet Earth. I will summarize findings from the past couple years that contextualize Earth as one potentially habitable, rocky planet among many. However, the environments of these worlds are by-and-large astoundingly different from the conditions that have nourished life here at home.