How close can a rocky planet be to a star, and still sustain water and life? A recently discovered exoplanet may be key to solving that mystery, providing important insights about conditions at the inner edge of a star’s habitable zone and why Earth and Venus developed so differently, according to new research led by Lisa Kaltenegger, director of the Carl Sagan Institute and professor of astronomy in the College of Arts and Sciences. “We don’t know what this planet on the edge of habitability could be like, so we have to look,” she said. “This is what real exploration is about.”

Might a tyrannosaur roam on Trappist-1e, a protoceratops on Proxima Centauri b, or a quetzalcoatlus on Kepler 1047c? “Hopefully, we’ll find some planets that happen to have more oxygen than Earth right now because that will make the search for life just a little bit easier,” Kaltenegger said. “And who knows, maybe there are other dinosaurs waiting to be found.”

With infectious enthusiasm, Lisa Kaltenegger creatively analyzes our world and links our understanding of alien worlds (and the possibility of life) to the grand story of Earth's own past, revealing the hidden links in Earth's history and its astonishing biosphere, and our quest. In Alien Earths, she takes us on an eye-opening journey to the most unusual exoplanets that have shaken our worldview, the worlds of science fiction - and the best contenders for Alien Earths. https://bit.ly/AlienEarths