Kepler Finds Tiny Solar System

Using data from the Kepler planet-hunting spacecraft, astronomers have discovered three tiny planets in orbit around a tiny star. The star is a red dwarf, and all three worlds are smaller than Earth-- a major breakthrough in the search for exoplanets. One of the three, the smallest, is roughly the size of Mars. All three orbit the star in less than two Earth days, so they are not seen as likely homes of life.

This discovery does bring up another possibility related to life, however. Red dwarfs are the most common stars in the universe. They are also stable for extraordinarily long periods-- billions of years. If a civilization decided to expand beyond its home star system, therefore, establishing colonies in red dwarf systems might be obvious stepping stones. Now, we have confirmed that at least some red dwarfs have planetary systems, which would mean those potential colonizers could have plenty of raw materials at their disposal in their new homes. It might be worth monitoring such stars for radio signals.