21. Our Galaxy Is Crammed Full of Planets

http://www.slate.com/blogs/bad_astronomy/2013/01/07/alien_earths_new_study_indicates_there_are_billions_of_earth_sized_planets.html

In the article "Our Galaxy is Crammed Full of Planets," Phil Plait explains that the Milky Way Galaxy is currently estimated to have some hundred billion planets, with 17 billion that are about the size of Earth. Plait supports this statement by mentioning the previous studies that have calculated roughly the same numbers of planets, such as the counting by NASA's Kepler spacecraft launched in 2009. Plait also explains the process of the findings which includes observing the dimming of a starlight, assumed to be caused by a planet directly lining up in between the star and the Earth. Along with the new research overlooking 5000 potential periodic transit-like events, he states, scientists have found over 2000 planet candidates so far.     Plait presents with excitement that through such observations, scientists are able to calculate an estimated number of planets in the whole galaxy which add up to about a hundred billion, indicating that "tens of billions of alien solar systems are scattered throughout the Milky Way." Plait then enthusiastically announces that 17% of those planets are the size of Earth, though most of them are probably not necessarily Earth-like.

Plait presents this article to a broad range of audiences around the net with a tone of fascination and excitement toward the advancement of science. Plait's audience consists of those who are not highly educated in astronomy, but with interest in such discoveries, are able to comprehend the basic behaviors of a solar system. Plait accomplishes his purpose by establishing a connection with the audience in which he shares thrill and excitement about even more scientific achievements in the future which he hopes will discover the unknown worlds out there.