Adrian: Girls, come and admire the sky with the stars. I’m waiting for you!
98 Ianthe: Are all these little lights in the sky stars like our Sun?
Adrian: They are beautiful. Indeed, they are all like our Sun.
431 Nepheli: There are so many.
The girls, 98 Ianthe and 431 Nepheli are two asteroids residing in the main asteroid belt. They have now come to Earth to see Adrianos, who lives on Earth.
One night, the three of them go to a place with little light to view the night sky and the stars.
Adrian: Indeed, there are so many. There are about 40 trillion stars in our own galaxy. There are approximately 70,000…(23 zeros) stars in the universe.
98 Ianthe: And do all these stars have solar systems around them like ours?
Adrian: Doesn’t that sound logical?
431 Nepheli: So there must be many other Earths with people on them.
Adrian: I believe so too. But where is everyone?
98 Ianthe: I know very well, that we have not yet found life anywhere else.
431 Nepheli: And what about the little green men with three eyes from Mars?
Adrian: Those are only in the movies. We haven’t found anything on Mars or any other planet yet.
431 Nepheli: Are there other planetary systems like ours?
In 2009, NASA (the American space agency) launched the satellite named Kepler. Its job was to search for other planets beyond our own solar system.
By 2017, it had found approximately 2,500. However, we still don’t know how many of them are like our Earth. The European Space Agency (ESA) is also preparing its own mission named PLATO. The launch might take place in 2026.
98 Ianthe: And how many of those already found have civilizations on them that can communicate with us?
Adrian: Hmmmm
431 Nepheli: Hm
98 Ianthe: Hmmm
Adrian: Anyway, we continue to search. We don’t give up. On April 18, 2018, NASA launched the TESS satellite. More are coming. Soon we will know more.
431 Nepheli: Are we truly alone in the entire universe?
98 Ianthe: If not, why is no one talking to us?
Adrian: Do we speak the same language?
Scientists have many questions to answer. Soon we will have some answers.
Our effort to understand the planets of our solar system and to communicate with other civilizations began very early (certainly by 1962).
Arthur C. Clarke said that there are two possibilities: either other civilizations exist, or we are alone. Both are terrifying.