BOOKS

Hidden in the Heavens Jason Steffen Princeton University Press £25 • HB Arthur C Clarke once said of life beyond Earth that “two possibilities exist: either we are alone in the Universe, or we are not. Both are equally terrifying.” The prospect of finding life beyond Earth is one that captivates humankind, driving much research into the detection and study of planets around other stars. This year marks 30 years since the discovery of 51 Pegasi b, the first such ‘exoplanet’ found orbiting a Sun-like star. Over the last three decades, improved technologies and techniques have accelerated discoveries and today there are over 5,800 confirmed exoplanets. For around half of these we have a single mission to thank for their discovery: the Kepler space telescope. Launched in 2009, Kepler identified…

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BBC Sky at Night United Kingdom (Digital) - 1 Issue, April 2025

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