Experts are preparing for the 2020 astronomy and astrophysics decadal survey, the once-every-10-years process to decide the highest-priority scientific and technical activities for the coming decade. Before them will be four proposals for the next great space observatory. Their goals are to help answer big questions: Are we alone? And how was the Universe formed?The next observatory could provide new tools for planet-hunting. So far, this has relied on Doppler spectroscopy to detect the wobble of a star caused by an orbiting body and transit photome-try to detect the change in brightness as a planet crosses the star's disk. The transit method can also detect the presence of an atmosphere and provide clues to its composition.
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