New Laser Technology

A new laser technology being developed at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics (CfA nows shows promise for finding smaller planets than we were able to before. This new technology allows us to find Earth-like planets instead of only being able to see very large planets.

Gravity pulls planets toward stars and also pulls stars toward planets. This created a kind of shaking of the star that helped us to detect planets near the star. However, this didn't work well with small planets and planets far from the star.
This new device, called an astrocomb uses ultrashort, femtosecond (one millionth of one billionth of a second) pulses of laser light, linked to an atomic clock, to provide a precise standard against which light from a star can be measured. It can accurately measure one part to a trillion. This new device will be able to detect planets with the mass and orbiting range similar to that of Earth.
The device is still being tested and if it works out well, it will surely be a big help to scientists and astronomers looking for faraway planets, and the possibility of life on other planets.