Storyline
The universe plays host to a surprising number of planets that
appear quite similar to our own.
Is it possible that humans
could occupy any of these planets in the future?
Remarkably,
recent astronomical discoveries have pinpointed thousands of
potential candidates.
The engrossing documentary 'Are There Other
Earths?' examines the probable conditions on a handful of these
planets and their parallels to the place we call home.
For a planet to be inhabitable by humans, it must rotate around
a parent star much like our Sun, be temperate and shows signs of
liquid water on its surface. Many possess a rocky landscape much
like our own.
Each of the planets profiled in the film meet this
minimal criteria, but they still pose serious obstacles for
human sustainability.
The film calls upon the efforts of several of the most revered
observatories in the world, including NASA and the
La Silla
Observatory in Chile.
Their most recent discovery is the
TRAPPIST-1 planetary system,
a dwarf star around which seven planets rotate in close
proximity to one another.
Nearly 40 light years away, the star
is significantly less luminous and massive than our own Sun, but
at least three of its host
exoplanets
exist within a habitable
zone.
One of these planets -
TRAPPIST-1f - is close to Earth's
size and is thought to contain 20% liquid water content.
There's
Ross 128b, a planet that orbits its red dwarf star once
every 9.9 days as it inches ever closer to Earth. Almost 500
light years away lies
Kepler 186f, a planet distinguished by a
size, gravity and terrain much like Earth.
In these instances
and others, the conditions might exist that would allow
biological processes to flourish. They may already harbor life
forms of their own, which would finally resolve the question of
whether we are alone in the universe.
The notion that humans can truly thrive on any of these
exoplanets is more than a bit far-fetched at this stage.
Each of
them presents its own set of potential dangers and
uncertainties.
Regardless, 'Are there Other Earths?' offers an
intriguing glimpse into an alternate reality that might await
humankind tens of thousands of years into the future.
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