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- [Narrator] Earth is awesome.

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What would be even more awesome,

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if we found another earth,
or a bunch of earths.

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That's one of the things
we're looking for at NASA

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as we study exoplanets, planets
outside our solar system.

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But maybe searching for a
planet similar to our own,

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where conditions might have led

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to an entirely unique origin of life,

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finally telling us that we're
not alone in the universe,

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maybe that's not your thing.

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That's cool.

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Maybe you're more interested

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in just how weird exoplanets can be.

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We think there are entire worlds

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covered by deep oceans, water worlds.

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Not weird enough for you?

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Okay. How about planets covered
entirely in oceans of lava?

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There are egg-shaped planets,

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worlds that orbit so close to their stars

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that they're pulled by
gravity into a lopsided shape.

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And there are planets where
conditions might be just right

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for it to rain things like glass,

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or even rubies and sapphires.

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There are planets that orbit
pairs and even groups of stars.

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Imagine having three or
four suns in the sky!

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On the opposite end of the spectrum,

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there are the loners, rogue
planets wandering out in space

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with no star to call their own.

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There are even planets
that orbit dead stars,

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stars that exploded long ago

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and left behind a rapidly
spinning core called a pulsar.

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Some of these pulsar planets

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could be among the oldest in our galaxy,

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pushing 13 billion years.

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Such planets would have witnessed

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most of the history of the universe,

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sadly, nearly all of it without tacos.

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Now, we think that we
haven't found one yet,

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that there probably are exoplanets

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pretty similar to earth out there.

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But in the meantime,
there are absolutely tons

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of weird, wondrous worlds in our galaxy.

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(jaunty music)