Blog 6 – Is the Solar System Unique?

Among the most asked questions regarding space are ‘is there intelligent life outside of Earth’ and ‘is our solar system unique’?  So far, science has not found a planetary system quite like our own.  This makes one wonder if our existence is rare or even unique, or if not enough data been found to make that distinction.  If our planetary system is indeed unique, it is more plausible that life on Earth is also unique.  We know that planetary systems are common due to extrasolar planet findings through transit detections and Doppler shifting.  Statistically, as many as 20% of stars could be orbited by Earth-like objects within the habitable zone.  The bottom line is that scientists are not sure if another solar system like our own exists.  It should be considered that the number of planets in the universe has increased in the past three decades, from eight to an estimated ten billion.  If nothing else, this leads one to believe that Earth isn’t as special as we may want to believe.

Kepler-62 System