Because We Live on One! – or – Why Planets and Exoplanets Are Important

Abstract

Because we live on a planet, planets other than the Earth are fascinating, significant and important to us, whether they form part of the solar system, belong to stars other than the Sun, or even float freely in space independent of any star. As well as a purely intellectual interest in planets and exoplanets, there is also the hope that one day humans might set up colonies on some of them. Thus providing a safety net against the remote chance of human kind being wiped-out by a large meteorite impact with the Earth or the far more likely possibility that we shall render the Earth unfit for life ourselves.