The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) has a very important announcement to make. It could be bigger than the big bang, and it’s not one you would want to miss. On Monday, NASA announced that they would air an especially intriguing “beyond our solar system” news conference at 1 p.m. EST on Feb.22 live on NASA Television and the website.
NASA ‘Beyond Our Solar System’
The agency is very excited to present this program but is tight-lipped in giving away any clues away about what it was going to be all about. All NASA said was that it was going to “present new findings on planets that orbit stars other than our sun, known as exoplanets.”
Together with their surprise are astronomers, planetary scientists, and professors from different places around the globe- or could it be the universe? Maybe expecting green, bald, black-eyed participants is too soon. Or is it?
NASA Reveals More Exoplanets
In 2016, Science didn’t take a huge step forward; it took lots of baby steps it was practically running toward a grand breakthrough. That year, 34 exoplanets were discovered. Exoplanets are planets beyond the Solar System that orbit around their star. These are planets that NASA takes careful attention to especially if the exoplanet was ‘rocky.’ Rocky planets are planets that are rich in silicate rocks– materials that are rich in elements that are abundant on Earth like quartz, pyroxene, etc. In other words, it could support life.
With a total of nearly 550 potentially rocky exoplanets discovered by Kepler, the world is in for a treat; Who’s up for Eeny meeny miny moe?
According to Mail Online, scientists from the Spitzer Telescope confirmed their attendance. The Spitzer Space Telescope is part of NASA’s Great Observatories Program. It is an infrared telescope that mainly observes new galaxies and new stars. Lately, they teamed up with Italy’s 3.6-meter Galileo National Telescope in the Canary Islands to reveal the closest known rocky planet with only 21 light-years away from Earth. Unfortunately though, it was too close to its star; it’s called HD 219134b.
What Else Is There To Know?
NASA also has its eye on Jupiter’s ice moon, Europa. The team has plans on putting a Lander on the surface of Europa to spot signs of extraterrestrial life. What have they said about this project and what are their plans? NASA appears to be holding the excitement in. Watch the live program and keep up with the updates. You can even ask the speakers via Twitter with the hashtag #AskNASA.