The science fiction novel 鈥淧roject Hail Mary鈥 hits theaters on March 20. It tells the story of an unlikely astronaut who encounters an alien while trying to save Earth, putting a spotlight on exoplanets and extraterrestrial life.
, director of Cornell University鈥檚 Carl Sagan Institute and an award-winning astrophysicist and astrobiologist in Cornell鈥檚 麻豆视频 and 麻豆视频 is one of the world鈥檚 leading experts on exoplanets.
Kaltenegger says: 鈥淒oes Tau Ceti have planets? In 鈥楶roject Hail Mary,鈥 Ryan Gosling鈥檚 character heads there, 12 light years away, to save Earth. But so far there is no unambiguous evidence of any planets in this star system, though we astronomers are still looking. This might, of course, be good news for humankind, because then the fictional Astrophage that threatens humanity in the story won鈥檛 have evolved.
鈥淚n the movie, another ship arrives in the system from 40 Eridani A, an orange star in a triple-star system about 16 light-years away from us. So far, no unambiguous sign of planets there either.
鈥淥ur latest research points the way towards an exciting diversity of exoplanets that could host life. The all circle in their star's habitable zone, where liquid water could exist, which is a key ingredient for life as we know it. And since, as 鈥楶roject Hail Mary鈥 so beautifully illustrates, life might be much more versatile than we currently imagine, figuring out which of the 6,000 known exoplanets would be most likely to host Astrophage and Taumoeba 鈥 or Rocky 鈥 could prove critical, and not just to Ryan Gosling.鈥
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