Are There Planets Like Those In "Star Wars" In Reality? NASA Is Planning To Find Out

By Shubham Ghosh - 20 Dec '16 18:00PM

Are 'Star Wars' exoplanets there in reality? According to scientists in NASA, some of the planets discovered around stars in our galaxy may be similar to the aid Tatooine, frozen Hoth or watery Scarif.

Following assessment of data on over 3,400 alien worlds, the scientists have used sophisticated techniques for teasing out colors, light and sunrise and sunset we might see on such exoplanets.

According to scientists, some of the distant worlds are stronger than those that are seen in "Rogue One: A Star Wars Story", the latest Star Wars film while there are others that are like fictional planets from a far-away galaxy, said a PTI report.

The scientists felt a real planet in the galaxy very much like Luke Skywalker's home planet and they called it "Tatooine". The planet, officially known as Kepler-16b, is located around 200 light years from the constellation Cygnus and has two startling suns, just like "Tatooine".

Laurence Doyle, an astrophysicist with the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence Institute, discovered the planet using NASA's Kepler telescope. He described the planetary system as the "first honest-to-goodness" where one could see a double sunset.

"A person on Kepler-16b would have two shadows. In a storm, two rainbows would appear. Each sunset would be unique because the stars are always changing their configuration. Building a sundial would require calculus," said a NASA statement.

Then there is also an icy cold super-Earth in the galaxy called Hoth which was discovered a decade ago. This planet reminded the space researchers of the planet that appeared in "The Empire Strikes Back". This planet is known as OGLE 2005-BLG-390L after the Optical Gravitational Lensing Experiment that discovered it.

The "Star Wars" have seen several worlds beaming with intelligent entities but in reality, only Planet Earth is known to have such beings so far and NASA believes there is life beyond the solar system of which we are a part and the next few years will see launch of latest spacecraft to find out planets around other stars.

Are there really planets like those in "Star Wars"? Share your thoughts in the comment section!

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