New Worlds, New Discoveries

All seven planets appear to be rocky, and any one of them may harbor liquid water, as they are each within an area called the habitable zone, where temperatures are within a range suitable for sustaining liquid water on a planet’s surface. The discovery marks a new record, as the planets make up the largest known number of habitable-zone planets orbiting a single star outside our solar system. Julien de Wit is heading up the team’s study of the planets’ atmospheres, the compositions of which may offer up essential clues as to whether these planets harbor signs of life.

To a standing-room-only crowd packed into 54-100 on Friday, Feb 24th to hear Drs. Gillon and de Wit speak about their discovery, and another 12K people around the world watched the lecture as it was livecast. If you missed it you can watch it here: