Sara Seager

Mostly I love the exploration. It's really a journey of exploration, a cross between like being the explorers that first went to the South Pole or the armchair crime solvers, the detectives, you know, it's kind of all of that all mixed together, but in a way that lets us find brand new things that we never imagined possible. And I also really love the night sky.

Mostly I love the exploration. It's really a journey of exploration, a cross between like being the explorers that first went to the South Pole or the armchair crime solvers, the detectives, you know, it's kind of all of that all mixed together, but in a way that lets us find brand new things that we never imagined possible. And I also really love the night sky.

I really hope that you and the listeners get a chance to go and see the truly dark sky. Have you?

I really hope that you and the listeners get a chance to go and see the truly dark sky. Have you?

But sometimes just the beauty of it speaks for itself because it's so mysterious and there are just so many stars out there.

But sometimes just the beauty of it speaks for itself because it's so mysterious and there are just so many stars out there.

One thing that might surprise people is that our solar system, with planets in our solar system's configuration, that is Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars close to the star, Jupiter, Saturn, the big planets far from the star, that configuration is rare. Most planetary systems are very different from ours.

One thing that might surprise people is that our solar system, with planets in our solar system's configuration, that is Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars close to the star, Jupiter, Saturn, the big planets far from the star, that configuration is rare. Most planetary systems are very different from ours.

It appears to be that the most common type of planet in our galaxy is one that's between the size of Earth and Neptune, right about in the middle of it. And it has no solar system counterpart. We don't know what they're made of. We don't know how they formed. We don't even know why there's so many of them. But in general, we could say that systems are very different from each other.

It appears to be that the most common type of planet in our galaxy is one that's between the size of Earth and Neptune, right about in the middle of it. And it has no solar system counterpart. We don't know what they're made of. We don't know how they formed. We don't even know why there's so many of them. But in general, we could say that systems are very different from each other.

One system could have a Jupiter where an Earth should be. Many systems appear to have planets. Well, many systems do have planets so close to their star, many, many times closer to their star than Mercury is to our sun. And the closer the planet is to the star, the faster it orbits. And some of these planets orbit their star that is their year is less than one Earth day.

One system could have a Jupiter where an Earth should be. Many systems appear to have planets. Well, many systems do have planets so close to their star, many, many times closer to their star than Mercury is to our sun. And the closer the planet is to the star, the faster it orbits. And some of these planets orbit their star that is their year is less than one Earth day.

There's literally almost every kind of planet out there that's permitted by the laws of physics. Interesting.

There's literally almost every kind of planet out there that's permitted by the laws of physics. Interesting.

I think we will be able to recognize life on other planets, but most of the life, well, let's divide the search for life into two categories. One is on planets and moons in our own solar system. In those cases, we hope someday to be able to do sample return from planets, sample return of materials from Mars, sample return of the clouds of Venus.

I think we will be able to recognize life on other planets, but most of the life, well, let's divide the search for life into two categories. One is on planets and moons in our own solar system. In those cases, we hope someday to be able to do sample return from planets, sample return of materials from Mars, sample return of the clouds of Venus.

We've already brought samples back from other things such as asteroids. We know there's no giant animals or plants on any of those planets. So in that case, we'd be looking for a very small microbial type life. I do think we'd be able to recognize it. On exoplanets, they're so far away. They're trillions and trillions of kilometers or miles or more.

We've already brought samples back from other things such as asteroids. We know there's no giant animals or plants on any of those planets. So in that case, we'd be looking for a very small microbial type life. I do think we'd be able to recognize it. On exoplanets, they're so far away. They're trillions and trillions of kilometers or miles or more.

They're tens to hundreds or more light years away. There, we won't be able to spatially resolve the planet for now. We couldn't even see the level of an animal, even a very big one. So in that case, we're looking for chemistry. We're looking not at what life is, but what life does. So the question is, can we recognize chemicals in a planet atmosphere far away that might be signs of life?

They're tens to hundreds or more light years away. There, we won't be able to spatially resolve the planet for now. We couldn't even see the level of an animal, even a very big one. So in that case, we're looking for chemistry. We're looking not at what life is, but what life does. So the question is, can we recognize chemicals in a planet atmosphere far away that might be signs of life?