Will the TRAPPIST-1 Star System Reveal How frequently Life is Found Elsewhere?
We are on the cusp of a new epoch in the search for life beyond Earth. Sun-like stars represent just 15 percent of all stars in the Milky Way. And nearly half of those have binary star companions that suppressed the formation of planets. The search for Earth analogs around single, solar-type stars therefore covers a nearly insignificant fraction of all the outcomes in nature.