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Is there life on another planet?

The age-old question that has been debated for centuries might soon get an answer.

Hello and welcome to the excerpt.

I'm Dana Taylor.

Today is Wednesday, 26th, 2024 and this is a special episode of the excerpt.

The planet that is the current focus of international inquiry is Gleeza 12B, an Earth-sized exoplanet that's only 40 light years

away.

It might even be habitable.

What's next on the road to answering these and other exciting questions?

Joining us today to share insights regarding this exciting new development

is Michael McElwain,

a NASA scientist at the James Webb Space Telescope Center.

Thanks for joining me today, Mike.

Thanks so much for having me.

You were part of this international team who discovered Gleeza 12b. How exciting of a moment was this for you. Was this a career high?

Yeah, this is a tremendously exciting new exoplanet.

Gleeza 12b is the nearest transiting temperate Earth-sized planet

that we found today.

And this was actually, it was a long process

for discovering this planet, so it was initially identified as an exoplanet candidate

...