If we destroy our planet will science find a new one?

Scientists are exploiting one of Einstein's predictions to find Earth-like planets around other stars -- planets that might even support Earth-like life. Let the evacuation plans begin!





WHAT
A way to spot Earth-size planets orbiting distant stars. Traditional techniques can't find small, rocky planets. But a new strategy called gravitational micro-lensing uses the bending of light to detect those elusive ersatz Earths. With it, astronomers have already found four new planets.

WHY
To determine whether we are alone in the universe. We're much more likely to find life on a rocky planet than on a gas giant like Jupiter -- and if the human race needs to find a new home in the future, rocky exosolar planets will probably be our destination. Also, some scientists theorize that small, solid planets outnumber gas giants (10:1 is a conservative estimate), but until now they couldn't test that hypothesis.

WHERE
All across the globe. A loose network of astronomers point their telescopes at the center of our galaxy, where they can see many stars at once. Because gravitational-microlensing events happen over the course of 10 to 40 days, research teams on different continents record data as dawn -- and the end of viable observation time -- approaches for their cohorts.

WHO
Two international teams of scientists, based in Chile and New Zealand and assisted by hundreds of volunteer astronomers, look for microlensing events across huge swaths of sky. They alert each other of probable events by Web and e-mail.

How many planets have been found?
Around 200. Most have been spotted by looking for wobbles in a star's motion that are caused by the gravitational attraction of a planet. But since this method preferentially finds huge planets that orbit close to their suns, it's turned up mostly "hot Jupiters."

Can I help in the Planet search?
ABSOLUTELY!... if you live south of 35 degrees north latitude (Memphis, Tennessee) and own a telescope with a 10-inch aperture equipped with a CCD detector. Readers interested in joining the effort should contact Andrew Gould at gould@astronomy.ohio-state.edu.