There has been much excitement this week about the possibility of water – and life – on some newly discovered exoplanets. But we can look closer to home for evidence of ET.
Should we make contact with alien life?
Shutterstock/adike
We continue to search for intelligent life elsewhere in the universe. But if we find ET there are those who question whether we should make contact or not.
Composite image of suspected water vapour plumes erupting at the seven o’clock position off the limb of Jupiter’s moon Europa.
NASA
Complex life may be rare in the universe because most planets become either too hot or too cold before life has a chance to get a foothold. This might explain why we have yet to bump into E.T.
An artist’s concept of select planetary discoveries made to date by NASA’s Kepler space telescope.
NASA/W. Stenzel
The number of known exoplanets doubled this week to more than 3,200. But why have only a handful of these those new planets caught people’s imagination?
We’re on the hunt for life – what do we do when we find it?
NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS
There are technological ways to hide a planet from intergalactic detection – as well as ways to signal that we’re just sitting here, eager for contact.
The plan to use lasers to send mini-spaceships to the stars.
Flickr/Dave Campbell
It’s an ambitious plan to send a micro-spaceship to our stellar neighbour but is this possible with today’s technology or even technology in the near future?
Alpha Centauri is actually the outer star (bottom right) of The Pointers, which point to the Southern Cross.
Y. Beletsky (LCO)/ESO
A US$100-million plan has been announced to send tiny probes out in space in search of life elsewhere in the universe. But are they looking in the right place?
Schiaparelli separating from Trace Gas Orbiter.
ESA–D. Ducros
Brad Carter, University of Southern Queensland; Amanda Bauer, Australian Astronomical Observatory, and Jonti Horner, University of Southern Queensland
A hint of oxygen and a whiff of methane in a distant exoplanet’s atmosphere may be the first evidence we discover of alien life.
Is this what we’re seeing around KIC 8462852 - a colossal megastructure built by alien intelligence? Probably not. The reality might be even more interesting.
Kevin Gill/Flickr
There’s a lot of speculation about a star behaving strangely in our galaxy. But even if it’s not evidence of alien intelligence, it’s sure to be an amazing discovery.
The building blocks of life are lurking on the dark and barren surface of Comet 67P.
ESA/Rosetta/NAVCAM