What we have not found is a second Earth, so if you read another
newspaper headline saying that Earth's twin has been discovered,
please be critical. It’s beyond the reach of our techniques.
Prof Dr Heike Rauer A panel of astrophysicists speaking at ESOF
2012 detailed the ongoing search for exoplanets, and explained
that our solar system is not necessarily typical of planetary
systems in general. Over the course of three presentations that
comprised a seminar chaired by Professor Dame Jocelyn Bell
Burnell , experts from the University of Warwick, the German
Aerospace Centre (DLR) and University College London (UCL) also
questioned whether it is sensible to focus all of our attention
on the discovery of a ‘twin Earth’. During the session, the
speakers detailed the history of our search for extrasolar
planets, outlined the strategies that have been employed in
pursuing their discovery, and assessed our current capabilities
in terms of identifying these elusive bodies. The University of
Warwick’s Professor Don P