Homes for extraterrestrial life: extrasolar planets
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Updated: Oct 2, 2026

Surface Mapping of Earth-like Exoplanets using Single Point Light Curves
Published on: May 10, 2020
1Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02138, USA. dlatham@cfa.harvard.edu
Abstract:
Astronomers are now discovering giant planets orbiting other stars like the sun by the dozens. But none of these appears to be a small rocky planet like the earth, and thus these planets are unlikely to be capable of supporting life as we know it. The recent discovery of a system of three planets is especially significant because it supports the speculation that planetary systems, as opposed to single orbiting planets, may be common. Our ability to detect extrasolar planets will continue to improve, and space missions now in development should be able to detect earth-like planets.
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