Life in the universe

https://theconversation.com/nasas-tess-spacecraft-is-finding-hundreds-of-exoplanets-and-is-poised-to-find-thousands-more-122104

NASA’s TESS spacecraft is finding hundreds of exoplanets – and is poised to find thousands more

Instructions: Follow the link above to a story on the search for nearby extrasolar planets.

You are encouraged to work with other students, but the work you submit must be fully yours. L

In this assignment you will read a brief essay on the search for planets around nearby stars.

Write a 1-page long essay (single spaced) about what you learned from the article, also answering the following questions:

1) How well do we know the extrasolar planet population in the solar nieghborhood?

2) What is TESS and how can it find extrasolar planets?

3) Which is the closest known extrasolar planet and how was it found?

4) What other projects are searching for extrasolar planets?

5) Why is it important to find the closest extrasolar planets?

Your own work will be graded – avoid or minimize quoting the article, use your own words!