“This system probably looks a lot like ours did when life first took root on Earth..”

| Readers 5

Epsilon EridaniDespite the reference in the NASA press release, Epsilon Eridani wasn’t the fictional stellar backyard of Star Trek’s Spock – that was the triple star system 40 [Omicron2] Eridani. But Epsilon Eridani has featured in science fiction ever since being one of the subjects of the first searches for extra-terrestrial life [SETI] by Frank Drake. The Class K-2 star is slightly cooler, and younger [1/5th the age], than Sol but it’s close enough, 10 light-years away, for Robert Hooke’s inheritors to examine the exo-planetary system in detail. Observations from NASA’s Spitzer Space Telescope now indicate a second asteroid belt to add to the previously confirmed planet in the system. Other potential Epsilon Eridani orbiting exo-planets are, as yet, unconfirmed – and there’s a visual comparison with the Sol system here. Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech.

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