4: Life on planets of other stars

Look for signs of life in other planetary systems

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What are the planets of other stars like? Are there many of them? Do any of them resemble Earth? With the Space Interferometry Mission, NASA will, by the end of this decade, be able to search hundreds of stars to detect planets almost as small as Earth. In the longer term, to find out whether these planets can support life, a large interferometric telescope, the Terrestrial Planet Finder, will use spectral analysis to identify planets that have warm atmospheres containing significant amounts of water or oxygen, which could indicate biological activity.

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