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Video: Searching for Planets Like Ours by NASA Space Place

Update: The Kepler Space Telescope was retired in 2018, and NASA’s Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) is the next step in the search for planets outside of our solar system, including those that could support life. Do planets outside our solar system, or exoplanets, also have living things? We don’t know! But NASA scientists are looking. They watch the starry skies for planets similar to Earth...
Levels
  • Introductory (K-5)
Material Type
  • Activity/Hands-on
Heliophysics Big Ideas
  • Big Idea 2.1 – Life on Earth has evolved with complex diversity…
NGSS
  • ESS1 - Earth's Place in the Universe
Heliophysics Topics
  • Habitable Zone
  • Solar System
Related Missions
  • James Webb Space Telescope (Astro)
  • Hubble Space Telescope (Astro)
Material Cost per Learner Free
Language English

This video and story explains how scientists search for Earth-like planets in other solar systems despite the challenges of direct observation. Students learn that exoplanets orbit other stars and are extremely difficult to see directly with telescopes. The resource explores the innovative methods astronomers use to detect these distant worlds and identify potentially habitable planets. Through engaging multimedia content, learners discover the techniques and technologies that enable scientists to study planets beyond our solar system.

Comprehension Questions:
1. Planets that orbit around other stars outside of our solar system are called ____________.
2. True or false: We don’t know if exoplanets also have living things.
3. The _________ zone is the distance between a planet and star that would result in temperatures similar to that of Earth.
4. What is a transit?
5. What is the name of one NASA spacecraft that found thousands of exoplanets?

Answer Key:
1. Exoplanets
2. True
3. Habitable
4. When one object crosses in front of another in space
5. Kepler

Find the video and story here ↗