Moons orbiting gas giants can support life if tidal forces generate sufficient internal heat, even if they exist outside the traditional habitable zone.

“so you can live in a moon that orbits one of these planets provided it's been warmed by this tidal force because we need a source of energy for our own metabolism and we have to figure out you know is it plant life is it animal life maybe these oceans in europa have fishes swimming in them”

Aomawa Shields suggests that planets in synchronous rotation around M dwarf stars may potentially host life along the terminator line between the day and night sides.

“my team actually has some new work that shows that you could have life along the Terminator the dividing line between the day and the night side”

Exoplanets concentrate complex molecules and elements, making them essential locations for the development of life.

“planets are really special places is that right is that yeah very special because they do concentrate complex molecules they concentrate elements nutrients and everything we need”

The current generation of telescopes allows for the detection of rocky, habitable planets orbiting other stars.

“we live in this time where with the James web Space Telescope Big telescope we put into space for the first time we can catch enough light to figure it out”

The study of exoplanets is a rapidly growing field that has progressed from zero known planets to nearly 6,000, with future missions expected to increase this number into the tens of thousands.

“and as of today, you know, Matt, you were asking we're at 5,921. So, within about a month, probably by the time this airs even, we'll be at 6,000 in flashing lights, which is pretty cool. And, you know, when you think about the fact that when I was born, I think when everybody on screen was born, we”

Low-mass stars are promising targets for searching for earth-sized exoplanets because these planets are easier to detect around such stars using current indirect methods.

“the low mass stars like we they might actually be better targets for finding Earth I don't want to say Earth like but I'll say earth size planets at the very least because of for these indirect methods that were mentioned earlier the indirect methods it's easier to see small planets relative to smal”

Research on exoplanets in the coming decade will rely on a collaborative, multi-telescope approach to analyze their atmospheres.

“Hubble will be being used in the coming decade to do more analysis of the atmospheres of these exoplanets complementing work from telescopes like tess”