JPL announced the findings of a solar system with a dwarf star (much like our sun) with orbiting planets that may potentially have water and a habitable climate. Discovered with the Spitzer telescope along with supported findings from telescopes in Chile and Europe, the star may support seven or more planets with an atmosphere that allows for the presence of water. Because life evolved from water on earth, scientist theorize that water on these planets may indicate life on these planets.
Scientist used the Spitzer atmospheric Telescope to discover these planets, which follows the earth as it orbits the sun. The telescope monitors infrared light and this particular star emitted long infrared rays which “blinked” as objects passed between the sun and the telescope. The time that the infrared light was blocked allowed scientist to make calculations on the number of planets orbiting and the distance of their orbit.
The discovery captures the imagination of the possibility of life on another planet. While the system is quite far away (40 light years from earth), any potential habitable planet is an exciting discovery. On a practical level, the technology of “seeing” distant galaxies through light wavelengths enables scientist to also measure gases in the atmosphere and even the density of each planet and the type of surface on the outside. This information could be useful for finding a new "Earth" once our planet is near its end but also just give us a better understanding of what is beyond our minds.
Although our JPL project is much simpler than trying to locate other habitable planets, we still use the same basic steps to complete our task. The scientist needed a way to see farther, so the invented a new type of telescope. They had a finished product in mind and used tests along with trial and error to achieve the final goal. That is exactly the same thing that we are doing. First we planned our machine, then built a prototype to see what doesn't work, and then now we are finally building our final product. This process has been difficult but has been going well and I hope it all goes according to plan.
https://www.nasa.gov/press-release/nasa-telescope-reveals-largest-batch-of-earth-size-habitable-zone-planets-around