Astrophysicist Jackie Faherty, of the American Museum of Natural History, joins Rae to answer questions about how and when humanity will find the next habitable world.

Questions Include: What is an exoplanet? What is a brown dwarf? What if Venus had a habitable atmosphere? Are there other habitable worlds out there? What would it take for humanity to travel the solar system? Are Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos the right people to make humans an interplanetary species? Is NASA too white and too male? How are we diversifying the field of space science? What’s a hot Jupiter? Is there a ninth planet in our solar system? How can I help look for other planets? How do planets form? How do stars form? Where is the next best place in our solar system? Where is the closest exoplanet?

Follow I Need My Space on Social Media:

Twitter: @INeedMySpacePod

Instagram: @INeedMySpace Pod

FB: I Need My Space Pod

Do you think our Solar System is hiding a mini-Neptune? Let us know on social media by using the hashtag #INeedMySpace!

Where to Find Jackie on the web:

http://www.jackiefaherty.com/

Twitter: @jfaherty

Open Space Project:

http://openspaceproject.com/

Gaia Data Release:

For more information on Gaia Data Release 2, visit: https://bit.ly/2HQLx5f

Why You Need Your Space:

In this episode, television host Emily Calandrelli, from Bill Nye Saves the World and Fox's Xploration Outer Space, tells us why she needs her space. You can follow Emily’s work on Twitter: @thespacegal

About Inverse:

Inverse sparks curiosity about the future. We explore the science of anything, innovations that shape tomorrow, and ideas that stretch our minds. Our goal is to motivate the next generation to build a better world.

Credits:

I Need My Space is an Inverse production hosted by Rae Paoletta and Steve Ward, and produced by Sam Riddell and executive produced by Hannah Margaret Allen. Our intro and outro music was created by Olivares.

Rae: @payoletter

Steve: @stevejohnhenryw

Andrew: https://soundcloud.com/andrewo

Other Topics Discussed Include: Open Space, Gaia, James Webb Space Telescope, Planets vs. Worlds, Brown Dwarfs, WISE 0855, Barnard’s Star, Carl Sagan, Super Jupiters, TRAPPIST-1, Alpha Centauri, Contact (1997), International Astronomical Union | IAU, Enceladus (moon), Scott S. Sheppard (astronomer), Space Tourism, American Museum of Natural History, Diversifying STEM, The Transit Method, The Radial Velocity Method, Waterworld (1995), Hot Jupiter, The Kepler Spacecraft, Backyard Worlds: Planet 9, Mark Kushner (NASA), NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, Citizen Science Projects, Open Space Project, Stellar Parallax, Deuterium, The Habitable Zone