In March, planet seekers found single planets around the stars 79 Ceti and HD46375. These planets were also remarkable because they were less than third the mass of Jupiter. Still too big, but a sign astronomers are closing in on their ultimate goal of earth lookalikes. What is striking is the sheer plethora of planets. Far from being rare, planets seem to be commonplace.
Planets are one piece of the jigsaw puzzle of alien life.
Another piece is determining if other planets have an essential ingredient to life as we know it water. Hence the excitement when it was announced in June that the space probe, Mars Global Surveyor, had produced two metre resolution pictures indicated liquid water had flowed on Mars s surface in the past one or two million years. There has long been evidence of water on Mars some four or five billion years ago. Pictures from the National Aeronautical and Space Administration point to the existence of underground water which may still be finding its way to the Martian surface. In 2003 NASA s Beagle 2 probe will be off to the red planet to look for water and life.