“Rogue One: A Star Wars Story” opened Thursday in theaters nationwide, once again bringing audiences stories from a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away.
Astronomers have found more than 3,400 planets in the universe, and many exist in conditions very similar to those portrayed in the "Star Wars" movies, NASA said.
Kepler-16b, a planet about 200 light years from Earth, circles a pair of suns, much like the arid world of Tatooine.
The phenomenon of two stars existing together is not unusual, because half the stars in the universe are in pairs, NASA said.
Desert worlds like Tatooine or Jakku from “Star Wars: The Force Awakens” are also plentiful in the galaxy, experts said.
Earth’s red neighbor, Mars, is one example.
The ice planet Hoth from “The Empire Strikes Back” also has a real-world parallel (with no invading imperial troops, fortunately).
OGLE 2005-BLG-390L is one such planet.
“The icy super-Earth reminded scientists so much of the frozen rebel base, they nicknamed it ‘Hoth,’” NASA said on its Tumblr page.
The planet is too cold to support life as we know it, but it is possible that life has evolved under the ice to endure the harsh conditions, NASA said.
Forested celestial bodies like the moon of Endor or Takodana from “The Force Awakens” are a little more difficult to find in the universe, mainly because plant life need not be, and likely isn’t, green on other worlds, scientists say.
Astrobiologists think plant life on other worlds could be red, black or even rainbow-colored, NASA said.
Astronomers from the European Southern Observatory in August announced the discovery of Proxima Centauri b, only four light years from Earth.
It orbits a tiny, dim, red star that emits light mainly in the infrared spectrum, as opposed to the visible spectrum that Earth’s sun gives off.
“And that could mean plants with widely different colors than what we’re used to seeing on Earth,” NASA said. “Or animals that see in the near-infrared.”
For now, the worlds of “Star Wars” exist only on the big screen, but as NASA explores and peers deeper into the universe, scientists hope to change that and take “one step closer to finding life.”
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