{"id":13964,"date":"2017-02-22T00:06:48","date_gmt":"2017-02-22T00:06:48","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.kurzweilai.net\/?p=294189"},"modified":"2017-02-22T01:54:31","modified_gmt":"2017-02-22T01:54:31","slug":"nasa-announces-wed-news-conference-on-discovery-beyond-our-solar-system","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hoo.central12.com\/fugic\/2017\/02\/22\/nasa-announces-wed-news-conference-on-discovery-beyond-our-solar-system\/","title":{"rendered":"NASA announces Wed. news conference on ‘discovery beyond our solar system’"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Artist’s concept of exoplanet Kepler-452b, the first near-Earth-size world to be found in the habitable zone of a star similar to our Sun. (credit: NASA Ames\/JPL-Caltech\/T. Pyle)<\/p><\/div>\n

NASA will hold a news conference at 1 p.m. EST Wednesday, Feb. 22, to present new findings on exoplanets<\/a> — planets that orbit stars other than our sun. As of Feb. 21, NASA has discovered and\u00a0confirmed 3,440 exoplanets.<\/p>\n

The briefing participants are Thomas Zurbuchen, associate administrator of the Science Mission Directorate at NASA Headquarters in Washington; Michael Gillon, astronomer at the University of Liege in Belgium; Sean Carey, manager of NASA’s Spitzer Science Center at Caltech\/IPAC, Pasadena, California; Nikole Lewis, astronomer at the Space Telescope Science Institute in Baltimore; and Sara Seager, professor of planetary science and physics at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge. Details of the findings are embargoed by the journal Nature<\/em> until 1 p.m.<\/p>\n

Interestingly, Seager<\/a>, who studies bio signatures in exoplanet atmospheres, has suggested that two inhabited planets could reasonably turn up during the next decade, based on her modified version of the Drake equation<\/a>, Space.com notes<\/a>. Her equation focuses on the search for planets with biosignature gases — gases produced by life that can accumulate in a planet atmosphere to levels that can be detected with remote space telescopes.<\/p>\n

“If we can identify another Earth-like planet, it comes full circle, from thinking that everything revolves around our planet to knowing that there are lots of other Earths out there,\u201d she has stated.<\/p>\n

The event will air live on NASA Television and will be live-streamed<\/a>. The public may ask questions during the briefing on Twitter using the hashtag #askNASA. A Reddit AMA (Ask Me Anything) about exoplanets will be held following the briefing at 3 p.m., with scientists available to answer questions in English and Spanish.<\/p>\n