Living in the country has its advantages. I may have to travel an hour and a half to get to an Old Navy, but at night, I can walk out my front door and clearly see thousands of stars in the sky. When I used to live in the city, the glow of the street lights, billboards and businesses blotted out the stars above. The only time I could enjoy the night’s natural twinkle lights was 
when I headed back to my parents’ farm.
Some of my favorite summer memories were made sitting with my dad, watching the sky for shooting stars and talking about whatever crazy topic would pop up. There’s a peace to a quiet, star-filled night that lends itself to good conversation. One theme that presented itself pretty regularly, was the vastness of the universe and whether or not scientists would ever discover more planets beyond our solar system.
And then they did…
Scientists have been searching for planets outside of our solar system for 15 years, and so far have stumbled upon about 450. Most of those planets are standing alone or in small groups of two or three and are orbiting a star.
On Tuesday, a whole new solar system, similar to ours, was found by a group of scientists from Europe. This is an uncommon find, because the grouping of planets was much larger than usual (at least five, but possibly seven) and is circling around a much larger sun-like star.
Because this new solar system is more than 600 trillion miles away, the planets aren’t able to be seen clearly. Instead, scientists are using an extremely powerful telescope and have been studying the sun-like star for six years. The planets are hard to see, but watching the star gives the scientists a good idea about the planets that are orbiting it. What they do know about the planets themselves is that they are enormous, some being 25 times Earth’s size.
Right now, from the data the scientists have gathered, they feel the planets aren’t fit to sustain life, but it does make me wonder? What if there is life out there? If scientists can find over 450 planets, who’s to say that sooner or later, they won’t find another lush, inhabited planet like ours?
This weekend, take your kids outside and rediscover the wonder that is the night sky. Talk to them about the possibilities that the unknown can hold. Someday they’ll be sharing the memories you make with their kids, and who knows what scientists will have discovered by then? The universe could be a whole new place by the time your grandchildren are marveling at the night sky.
Image Source: flickr.com/photos/11304375@N07/2026823169
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