Planet Hunting with the James Webb Space Telescope

Astronomers have detected more than 5000 planets orbiting other stars. New space telescopes – exploiting aggressive new technologies and backed by Artificial Intelligence, could vastly expand this bounty.

Are any of these alien worlds “alive”? Are living creatures common in the cosmos? These are among the most challenging questions science has ever faced. The answers may be found in the early Universe. But because space itself is relentlessly expanding, the light from those early times has been stretching – shifting further and further into the red part of the spectrum. To probe events that far back in time, astronomers must search with sensitive infrared detectors.

Enter the Webb Telescope, with its ability to discern details only a 50 million years after “the beginning of time,” along with the details of alien atmospheres in the neighborhood of our Sun.