The first exoplanet to be found around a sun-like star was discovered in 1995, just two years before I began studying exoplanet detection. — Debra Fischer Around Copy Share Image
Naturally, we think that finding another Earth-like planet is identifying a site that's at least friendly here for the evolution of life.… — Debra Fischer Evolution Copy Share Image
Kepler's blown the lid off everything we know about extra-solar planets. — Debra Fischer About Copy Share Image
Our field is very focused on finding Earth 2.0, and anything we can do to narrow the search is helpful. — Debra Fischer Anything Copy Share Image
It now seems logical that all the stars, like our own sun, must have formed with a system of planets around them. — Debra Fischer Astronomy Copy Share Image
In 1999, my team discovered that the star Upsilon Andromedae was circled by three gas-giant planets - the first distant multiplanet system… — Debra Fischer Astronomy Copy Share Image
Because Alpha Centauri is so close, it is our first stop outside our solar system. There's almost certain to be small, rocky… — Debra Fischer Alpha Copy Share Image
As our sensitivity improves, we are finally seeing planets with longer orbital periods, planetary systems that look more like our solar system. — Debra Fischer Look Copy Share Image
Science requires speculation, creativity, and wild ideas. — Debra Fischer Creativity Copy Share Image
There's no doubt that the search for planets is motivated by the search for life. Humans are interested in whether or not… — Debra Fischer Doubt Copy Share Image
Further ahead, I'd like to see tiny spacebots - smaller than your cell phone - travel outside our solar system to the… — Debra Fischer Ahead Copy Share Image
There may be hundreds of small seed planets - or planetesimals - which grow in the disk of matter around a star. — Debra Fischer Around Copy Share Image
The gas-giant planets in our solar system all have large moons. — Debra Fischer Planets Copy Share Image
The universe has told us the most common types of planets are small planets, and our study shows these are exactly the… — Debra Fischer Alpha Copy Share Image
Computers can't find the unexpected, but people can when they eyeball the data. — Debra Fischer Computers Copy Share Image
A 'serious' scientist in 1992 or 1993 had to admit the possibility that planets were really rare, that most stars might not… — Debra Fischer Admit Copy Share Image
We now know that stars which are abundant in heavy metals are five times more likely to harbor orbiting planets than are… — Debra Fischer Heavy Copy Share Image
Whether a star has planetary companions or not is a condition of its birth. Those with a larger initial allotment of metals… — Debra Fischer Advantage Copy Share Image
One of the first thoughts I had, when doing early exoplanet research, was that Earth and its many companions seemed very different… — Debra Fischer Early Copy Share Image
The building blocks of life are readily available throughout the universe. — Debra Fischer Available Copy Share Image
55 Cancri is extraordinarily rich in heavy elements and extraordinarily efficient at making planets - much more so than our sun -… — Debra Fischer Gas Copy Share Image
Ultimately, what we're looking for in the long run is to find other Earth-like planets. — Debra Fischer Find Copy Share Image
If few worlds have microbial life, it dramatically reduces the chances that more complex organisms exist. — Debra Fischer Biology Copy Share Image
