The speaker discusses their lifelong goal of finding an Earth-sized planet with a thin atmosphere and water oceans, similar to our own, in an orbit around a sun-like star. They note that the idea of other planets with life has been around for centuries but was not confirmed until the discovery of exoplanets in the 20th century.
The first exoplanet was discovered in 1995, and since then, thousands of exoplanets have been found. The speaker highlights a few notable discoveries, including Proxima Centauri, a planet in the habitable zone of its star, and Kepler-16b, a giant exoplanet orbiting two stars.
The speaker also discusses the Trappist-1 system, which has seven Earth-sized planets, and the James Webb Space Telescope, which will be used to study the atmospheres of these planets. The ultimate goal is to find a planet that can support life, and the speaker believes that even if we do find one, it may be too far away to visit or communicate with.
Despite this, the speaker argues that exploring the universe is human nature, and finding other worlds like our own is a step towards understanding why we are here and how our Earth came to be.
Here are the key facts extracted from the text:
1. The idea that stars have planets of their own and that those planets might have aliens living on them has been around for centuries.
2. By the 20th century, the idea of alien worlds was mainstream and appeared in books, movies, and TV shows.
3. In this galaxy, there is a mathematical probability of three million earth-type planets.
4. The first exoplanet around a sun-like star wasn't discovered until 1995, and it was called 51 Pegasi b.
5. 51 Pegasi b is about the size of Jupiter but takes only four days to orbit its star, compared to Jupiter's 12-year orbit.
6. The planet is likely too hot and has extreme pressures, making it inhospitable to life.
7. Proxima Centauri, the nearest star to our sun, has a planet that is about the size of Earth and is in the habitable zone of its star.
8. The planet's rotation is locked, meaning one side always faces the star and the other side always faces away.
9. The Kepler Space Telescope found thousands of exoplanets by focusing on one patch of sky.
10. The telescope discovered a planet called Kepler-16b, which is the first known planet to orbit two stars.
11. The James Webb Space Telescope has targeted the Trappist system, which has seven Earth-sized planets.
12. The telescope will be able to study the atmospheres of exoplanets and determine if any of our neighbors might support life.
13. Over 4,000 exoplanets have been discovered so far.
14. The most common types of exoplanets discovered are big, dense rocks nicknamed "super-Earths" and big, less dense "sub-Neptunes."
15. Our solar system is not incredibly common, and surveys have not found many Jupiter-like planets.
16. There is no sign of a true Earth twin yet, but it's likely that one exists somewhere in the universe.
Note: I excluded opinions and focused on extracting factual information from the text.