Timing the shadow of a potentially habitable extrasolar planet paves the way to search for alien life
Monday, November 28, 2016 - 13:31
in Astronomy & Space
Scientists have observed the transit of a potentially Earth-like extrasolar planet known as K2-3d. A transit is a phenomenon in which a planet passes in front of its parent star, blocking a small amount of light from the star, like a shadow of the planet. While transits have previously been observed for thousands of other extrasolar planets, K2-3d is important because there is a possibility that it might harbor extraterrestrial life.