What are your thoughts? #1

Throughout this module, you’ll be asked to ponder certain questions, share your ideas, and generate questions of your own. You are a part of a planet-hunting community, but you are also on your own personal journey into the Universe beyond Earth—so engage your mind and heart!

Consider the following questions. Remember that there are no “right” or “wrong” answers to these questions—only your ideas.

1. Why do you think we Earthlings are so curious about whether there is life out there?
2. Describe a movie you’ve seen or a book you’ve read about space, or about other worlds beyond Earth.
3. Most of the other solar systems discovered so far are not like our own. For a moment, travel in your imagination to an alien world. Describe what you think life might be like on:
a. A planet with one side that always faces its star
b. A much bigger rocky planet, where gravity is stronger
c. A much smaller rocky planet, where you’d weigh very little
d. A planet that is always cloudy, so that no one had even seen the stars
e. A planet with a very eccentric orbit, with long winters and long summers