Why we're getting very excited about an Earth-sized planet just 40 light years away

The planet TRAPPIST-1e | contributed

Is there anybody there? Or are we floating all alone across the vastness of the Universe? Are humans the only properly intelligent life forms in all of creation?

Surely not. For one thing, the pressure of being the sole species capable of spaceflight, poetry and contemplating the nature of existence would simply be too much to bear. And so the search for extraterrestrial life continues.

An artist's impression of the exoplanet Trappist-1e orbiting around it star | contributed

Hot off the presses is the exciting news that a planet ‘just’ 40 light years away may – or, less interestingly, may not – have an atmosphere, according to research involving St Andrews University scientists. Trappist-1e is also about the same size as Earth and lies in the ‘habitable zone’ around its star.

It probably is too soon to book a ticket on the first interstellar flight to visit our galactic cousins (for one thing, it would take 80 years to receive a reply to a speed-of-light message to check if they were in), but it’s hard not to get just a little bit excited. And if the Trappists are reading this, please beam us up, we can’t wait to see you!