Published in

Wiley, Monthly Notice- Royal Astronomical Society -Letters-, 1(499), p. L111-L115, 2020

DOI: 10.1093/mnrasl/slaa161

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Which stars can see Earth as a transiting exoplanet?

Journal article published in 2020 by L. Kaltenegger ORCID, J. Pepper
Distributing this paper is prohibited by the publisher
Distributing this paper is prohibited by the publisher

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Data provided by SHERPA/RoMEO

Abstract

ABSTRACT Transit observations have found the majority of exoplanets to date. Also spectroscopic observations of transits and eclipses are the most commonly used tool to characterize exoplanet atmospheres and will be used in the search for life. However, an exoplanet’s orbit must be aligned with our line of sight to observe a transit. Here, we ask, from which stellar vantage points would a distant observer be able to search for life on Earth in the same way? We use the TESS Input Catalog and data from Gaia DR2 to identify the closest stars that could see Earth as a transiting exoplanet: We identify 1004 main-sequence stars within 100 parsecs, of which 508 guarantee a minimum 10-h long observation of Earth’s transit. Our star list consists of about 77 percent M-type, 12 percent K-type, 6 percent G-type, 4 percent F-type stars, and 1 percent A-type stars close to the ecliptic. SETI searches like the Breakthrough Listen Initiative are already focusing on this part of the sky. Our catalogue now provides a target list for this search. As part of the extended mission, NASA’s TESS will also search for transiting planets in the ecliptic to find planets that could already have found life on our transiting Earth .