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<ul class="summary-list"><li>Both my parents died a few years apart when I was in my 30s. </li><li>I wasn't prepared to be the executor of their estate, but have learned a lot in doing so. </li></ul>I had big plans for my 30s: ask for a raise, move somewhere with more space for my dog — maybe even publish a book. I didn't<em> </em>plan to become executor of my parents' estate — but then my mom and <a target="_blank" href="https://www.insider.com/lost-dad-father-at-young-age-2023-9">dad died</a> just a few years apart.<br /><br />We all expect <a target="_blank" href="https://www.insider.com/guides/health/mental-health/stages-of-grief">grief</a>, but nobody tells you about the <a target="_blank" href="https://www.insider.com/what-happens-with-finances-when-you-die-2015-9">financial and legal hoops</a> you'll have to jump through after the <a target="_blank" href="https://www.insider.com/guides/health/mental-health/what-to-say-to-someone-who-lost-a-loved-one">death of a loved one</a>. Here are five crucial things I've learned about the process.<br /><br /><h2><strong>Stock up on death certificates</strong></h2>You can't accomplish anything without death certificates. Everyone will need a copy, from the life insurance agent to the cell phone company. When you select a funeral home or crematorium, they'll ask you to complete paperwork about the deceased — then they'll file that information with the county for the certificate.<br /><br />Funeral homes often include some death certificates in their packages, but not always. We picked my dad's crematorium specifically because they offered the most certificates.<br /><br />Even years later, you can request more certificates from the funeral home or directly from the county clerk. Yes, you may need more years later. And keep in mind they can get expensive, according to <a target="_blank" href="https://www.neptunesociety.com/ask-a-funeral-director/how-much-does-a-death-certificate-cost#:~:text=The%20cost%20of%20a%20death,be%20for%20each%20death%20certificate."><u>The Neptune Society</u></a>, death certificates typically cost anywhere from $6 to $25 each.<br /><br /><h2><strong>Learn the difference between a will and a trust</strong></h2>Wills aren't as fancy as you might expect. Chances are you'll find your loved one's will inside a messy drawer, printed on regular computer paper — assuming they even have one.<br /><br />When you do find a will (or nothing at all), you should visit the county clerk — with a death certificate, of course — and register it. If you're listed as executor, you're in charge of moving the estate through probate court, which ensures the deceased's debts are paid and the correct beneficiaries receive the correct assets.<br /><br />Your loved one may have saved you the trouble by putting their largest assets — properties, investment accounts, etc. — into a trust. Instead of an executor, trusts have a successor trustee who takes over when the original trustee dies. Since the trust is still intact, it doesn't have to go through probate court.<br /><br />My parents had a living trust — but they forgot to transfer one life insurance policy, so I had to go through probate anyway. Lucky me.<br /><br /><h2><strong>Befriend a notary public</strong></h2>You'll need a notary's signature almost as often as you'll need a death certificate. Notaries are government-appointed officials who verify your identity and the accuracy of whatever document you're filing. You'll need to sign the document in front of the notary — don't sign before you go see them. Then they'll stamp the paperwork and make it official.<br /><br />How do you find a notary? Check your bank — they likely won't charge existing customers for notary services. Shipping stores like FedEx and <keyword id="47560" type="General" weightage="80" keywordseo="ups" source="Orion">UPS</keyword> sometimes have notaries as well, but you'll have to pay. Or if you're me, you'll start crying, and the UPS notary will help you for free.<br /><br /><h2><strong>Consider geography</strong></h2>After selling our childhood home, my parents downsized to a condo in <keyword id="567797" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="wisconsin" source="Orion">Wisconsin</keyword> for summer and another in <keyword id="6357385" type="General" weightage="50" keywordseo="florida" source="Orion">Florida</keyword> for winter. I live in <keyword id="92555" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="kentucky" source="Orion">Kentucky</keyword>. That means I had to navigate two different legal systems in order to settle my parents' affairs — and I had to do lots of unexpected traveling. I spent July in all three states.<br /><br />Whenever you're researching next steps, remember to take state and county laws into account.<br /><br /><h2><strong>Lawyer up</strong></h2>Until my parents died, I'd never considered hiring a lawyer — I always assumed it was outside my budget. At first I tried to figure out the estate by myself. I'm a smart, capable 35-year-old. How hard could it be?<br /><br />Very hard, as it turns out. When I realized I'd have to go through probate in Florida, I nearly broke down. That's when my uncle introduced me to his wonderful estate attorney — now she tells me exactly what I need to do.<br /><br />Yes, estate lawyers are expensive — but if there's any way you can afford it, it's worth the cost. Life insurance money? What about legal aid? Having an expert on your side is much easier than going it alone.<br /><br />The loss of my parents was heartbreaking enough — becoming an executor was an extra burden I don't wish on anyone. You can't avoid death, but you can prepare for the worst.<br /><br />

My parents are dead. Here are the 5 most important things I've learned as executor. 

<br /><br /><ul><li>Oumuamua and Borisov weren’t the first <keyword id="6066617" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="interstellar-asteroids">interstellar asteroids</keyword> to visit our solar system. <br /></li><li>Scientists have discovered 19 news <keyword id="81841" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Asteroids">asteroids</keyword> hiding in the space between <keyword id="175328" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Neptune">Neptune</keyword> and <keyword id="34757" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Jupiter">Jupiter</keyword>.<br /></li><li>These 19 asteroids from the Centaur family orbit the Sun on a plane that was perpendicular to planetary motion 4.5 billion years ago.<br /></li></ul>Interstellar asteroids — asteroids from outside our solar system — may not be as rare as we once thought they were. An entire population was discovered between Jupiter and Neptune. <br /><br />The Centaur family of asteroids roam the space between the two gas giants but even computer models can’t predict where they’ll be headed next.<br /><br /><div type="image" title="centaur3_edited" msid="75351707" hostid="261" caption="&amp;lt;p&amp;gt;The Centaurs in the study have so far not been imaged directly. Their sizes range from 10km to 300km, and small Centaurs may look like the 53km asteroid Mathilde imaged by NASA’s NEAR Shoemaker mission in 1997&amp;lt;/p&amp;gt;"></div><br />“The discovery of a whole population of asteroids of interstellar origin is an important step in understanding the physical and chemical similarities and differences between solar system-born and interstellar asteroids,” said <a href="https://ras.ac.uk/news-and-press/research-highlights/interstellar-asteroids-found-hiding-plain-sight">Maria Helena Morais</a>, one of the authors of the discovery published in the <a href="https://doi.org/10.1093/mnras/staa712">Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society</a>.<br /><br />The general consensus in the scientific community is that interstellar asteroids are rare and visit the neck of the solar system every couple of years as they pass through. Other than that, we have the asteroid belt, which stretches from Mars to Jupiter.<br /><br />This also means that Oumuamua wasn’t the first interstellar visit and neither was Borisov. The <keyword id="9113018" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="centaur-asteroids">Centaur asteroids</keyword> have been around since the birth of our solar system — even though they themselves were born in other star systems.<br /><br /><strong>The origin story of Centaur asteroids<br /></strong>These 19 new asteroids from the Centaur family could have originated outside the solar system, according to calculations. The researchers claim that there’s no other plausible explanation for their orbits and characteristics.<br /><br />The simulations show that these Centaurs orbit the Sun on a plane that was perpendicular to planetary motion at that time. They also imply that the asteroids were located far from the disc that gave rise to our own solar system’s asteroids.<br /><br /><div type="image" title="centaur_edited" msid="75351746" hostid="261" caption="&amp;lt;p&amp;gt;Illustration of the orbit of a Centaur asteroid 4.5 billion years ago, relative to the protoplanetary disc. The asteroid orbits around the sun far from the disc in a plane perpendicular to it.&amp;lt;/p&amp;gt;"></div><br />“The close proximity of the stars meant that they felt each others’ gravity much more strongly in those early days than they do today. This enabled asteroids to be pulled from one star system to another,” explained Fathi Namouni, lead author of the study. <br /><br />When our own solar system was born, 4.5 billion years ago, the Centaurs got caught in its gravity and have been orbiting our Sun in incognito mode ever since.<br /><br /><strong>On the hunt for other interstellar asteroids that may have been hiding in plain sight<br /></strong><br />The ability to differentiate between interstellar asteroids and native asteroids has eluded astronomers for a long time.<br /><br />“This population will give us clues about the Sun’s early birth cluster, how interstellar asteroid capture occurred, and the role that interstellar matter had in chemically enriching the Solar System and shaping its evolution,” said Namouni.<br /><br />The scientists now plan to continue this work by looking for specific events when common capture of several extrasolar bodies occurred.<br /><br /><strong>See also:<br /><a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/science/environment/news/picture-show-clean-air-in-north-india/slidelist/75341522.cms">North India’s Air Is Cleaner Than It’s Ever Been In Over 20 Years — And Here Are The Pictures That Prove It</a><br /><br /><a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/science/space/news/a-planet-made-of-melted-metal-could-be-the-key-for-finding-the-next-earth/articleshow/75325986.cms">A planet made of melted metal could be the key for finding the next Earth</a><br /><br /><a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/science/space/news/the-mars-helicopter-is-cool-a-fleet-of-small-levitating-nanocardboard-aircraft-would-be-cooler/articleshow/75325080.cms">The Mars helicopter is cool — a fleet of small, levitating nanocardboard aircraft would be cooler</a></strong><br />

There are 19 interstellar asteroids between Jupiter and Neptune ⁠— and even computers can’t predict where they are headed

<div type="image" title="Photos of Gottmik, Kerri Colby, RuPaul, Jasmine Kennedie and Willow Pill lead 2x1" height="1167" width="2334" msid="92416023" hostid="261"></div><p><a href="https://www.insider.com/we-us-ours-lgbtq-communities-and-queer-spaces"></a></p><ul class="summary-list"><li>The Emmy-winning show "RuPaul's Drag Race" has encouraged a new generation of LGBTQ+ fans to come out.</li><li>The casting of Gottmik, the drag persona of the first trans man to compete, was a "watershed" moment, an academic said.</li></ul><p>Brandon Austin struggled with feeling different in high school.</p><p>"I wasn't myself at all. Nobody was gay, and I was an easy target for bullies. I felt abnormal," he told Insider. "Then, at 16, my best friend introduced me to 'RuPaul's Drag Race.'"</p><p>Austin, a 20-year-old from Kent, England, is one of many young LGBTQ+ people whose coming-out story involves "<a href="https://www.insider.com/rupauls-drag-race-2019-1">RuPaul's Drag Race</a>."</p><p>"Without 'RuPaul's Drag Race,' I wouldn't have had the confidence to come out as gay," Austin told Insider. "I think I'd still be a few years away from coming out."</p><p>The Emmy-winning reality show, broadcast on VH1 and Paramount+ in the US, follows RuPaul Charles' search for "America's next drag superstar." It's been described as "<a href="https://www.thrillist.com/entertainment/nation/rupaul-drag-race-contestants-season-all-stars-ranked">the closest gay culture gets to a sports league</a>."</p><p>Throughout its 14 seasons — and numerous spin-offs — it has shed light on issues important to LGBTQ+ communities, such as <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/calgary/slay-stigma-hiv-drag-queen-rupaul-twisted-element-1.5311140">HIV</a>, <a href="https://www.dailyxtra.com/sober-drag-queens-addiction-179896">substance use</a>, <a href="https://www.them.us/story/rupauls-drag-race-first-openly-trans-male-contestant-gottmik">transgender identities</a>, <a href="https://www.facebook.com/jujubeefans/posts/i-only-had-my-parents-until-i-was-15-my-father-died-and-the-same-year-my-mother-/10153068215605027/">family abandonment</a>, and <a href="https://ew.com/tv/2017/04/28/rupauls-drag-race-peppermint-coming-out/">coming out</a>.</p><p>It has also brought the art of female impersonation into the mainstream.</p><p>Drag's place in the zeitgeist means that more young LGBTQ+ people watching the show have visible queer icons they can look up to. This representation is significant for many <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/gen-z-is-smartphone-generation-2019-7">Gen Zers</a> who have grown up with the show over its 12 years. For several, it has been integral to their being out and proud about their identities.</p><p>"Seeing people being accepted for who they are made me realize that I am normal," Austin told Insider.</p><h2>'It helped me to accept myself'</h2><p>By day, Austin works in an Amazon warehouse. By night, he moonlights as a "glitterific" drag queen called Sophia Stardust.</p><p>Austin, who has been performing as Sophia Stardust for four years, credited the show with helping him to embrace his sexuality and giving him the confidence to pursue drag.</p><div type="image" title="teenage drag queen" height="360" width="480" msid="92416026" hostid="261"></div><p>Austin had grown up with little exposure to gay <keyword id="11899151" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="culture" source="Orion">culture</keyword>. But "RuPaul's Drag Race" was a revelation.</p><p>"I was living in an area where all I saw was straight people," he said. "Then, watching this show, I saw a new world — a world where people were getting recognition and praise for existing as these magical creatures.</p><p>"It helped me to accept myself," he continued. "Shortly after, I came out as gay. Then a week after that, I got a cheap wig from my neighbor's attic, bought some Superdrug makeup, and got into drag for the very first time."</p><div type="image" title="drag queen uk teenager" height="360" width="480" msid="92416031" hostid="261"></div><h2>'I'd definitely still be struggling with my gender identity'</h2><p>Like Austin, 17-year-old Neptune is thankful for "RuPaul's Drag Race's" role in their coming-out story.</p><p>The nonbinary drag queen, who was assigned female at birth, said they became confident after being introduced to the show.</p><p>"Without 'RuPaul's Drag Race,' I probably wouldn't be calling myself nonbinary," they said. "I'd definitely still be struggling with my gender identity."</p><div type="image" title="neptune teenage drag queen" height="360" width="480" msid="92416033" hostid="261"></div><p>Neptune began watching the show when they were 11 years old. At first, they said, they thought drag was "just for men."</p><p>After watching a few seasons of the show, Neptune went to Pride Glasgow, Scotland's largest LGBTQ+ festival, where they met a drag queen for the first time.</p><p>"I found out from them that there were loads of AFAB and gender-nonconforming queens," Neptune said. "This gave me the confidence to start doing drag myself."</p><p>They said the show introduced them to a world that allowed them to explore their gender. Neptune came out as nonbinary this year.</p><p><em><strong>Read more:</strong> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/tomboyx-cofounder-built-inclusive-gender-neutral-clothing-brand-2020-11">LGBTQ customers spend $917 billion a year on brands they care about. Here's how the cofounder of the inclusive clothing line TomboyX harnessed her strict upbringing to build a beloved business with her wife.</a></em></p><p>"'Drag Race' was a huge inspiration and was my entry into a community," Neptune told Insider. "My life would be very different without the show."</p><p>One queen who Neptune said was an important part of their journey is Gottmik, the drag persona of 24-year-old Kade Gottlieb, <a href="https://www.them.us/story/rupauls-drag-race-first-openly-trans-male-contestant-gottmik">the first trans man cast on the show</a>.</p><p>"Having Gottmik on the show is incredibly important," they said. "Casting trans queens introduces and normalizes transness."</p><h2>Gottlieb, aka Gottmik, is the first trans man to compete on the show</h2><p>Gottmik broadened the show's scope of what constitutes a drag queen.</p><p>Gottlieb was the show's first transgender man to compete, its first queen to be assigned female at birth, and its first contestant to have had top surgery, a procedure that trans men can undergo to remove breast tissue.</p><p>For many of the show's fans, Gottmik's casting was a major turning point.</p><div type="image" title="gottmik drag race rupaul" height="1724" width="2299" msid="92416035" hostid="261"></div><p>In 2018, RuPaul <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2018/mar/08/rupaul-drag-race-transgender-performers-diversity">said he would "probably not" include trans women</a> on the show. The host <a href="https://www.billboard.com/articles/news/pride/8232231/rupaul-responds-backlash-hurtful-comments/">eventually backtracked</a>, but the comment has consistently been criticized as exclusionary and transphobic.</p><p>Since then, numerous trans women have appeared on the show.</p><p>Season 14, which aired this year, included five trans contestants. Kornbread "The Snack" Jeté and Kerri Colby were out when they entered the workroom, with fellow contestants Bosco, Jasmine Kennedie, and Willow Pill opening up about their identities during or after the season's filming.</p><p>Nonbinary contestants have also appeared on the show. And in the third season of the UK spinoff "RuPaul's Drag Race UK," a cisgender woman — Victoria Scone — was featured.</p><p>But Gottmik's inclusion in Season 13 represented a seismic shift, marking a widening net of who can compete.</p><p><em><strong>Read more: </strong><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/sephora-inclusivity-lesson-viral-incident-sza-2020-2">Sephora's VP of marketing explains what a viral incident with the musician SZA taught the company about inclusivity</a></em></p><p>In Gottmik's first appearance on the show, the drag queen <a href="https://www.them.us/story/gottmik-discusses-top-surgery-pronouns-ru-pauls-drag-race-season-13">spoke frankly about experiencing gender dysphoria</a> and having had top surgery. Pronouns were also discussed: "She" in drag, "he" out of drag.</p><p>"Coming out on the episode and talking about gender dysphoria and top surgery was weird for me. I don't even talk about it with my friends," Gottlieb told Insider. "At first, I felt a little bit concerned about my family and how they were going to react to seeing it on TV for the first time.</p><p>"But I took a step back and realized this is a real moment for trans people. Trans people go through dysphoria and have top-surgery moments," he added. "I just had to own it, kill it, and be honored to have such a platform."</p><p>Gottlieb said he recognized that his being on the show could validate someone's journey to feeling secure in their gender identity.</p><p>"I have the most amount of messages I could have ever imagined from young trans guys wanting to explore drag but who are worried it might invalidate their gender or people might look at them in some sort of way," he said. "Seeing that I helped them realize that drag is just an art form, not a gender, is so amazing for me to see."</p><h2>'Representation matters'</h2><p>Gottmik's casting was profound for many young <keyword id="11911085" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="lgbtq" source="Orion">LGBTQ</keyword> people and particularly trans people, Katie Horowitz, an assistant professor of gender and sexuality studies at Davidson College, told Insider in 2021.</p><p>"Gottmik's casting is a watershed moment," Horowitz said. "To see somebody who was assigned female who then transitioned to identifying as a man performing as a woman is an incredibly new and groundbreaking conversation."</p><div type="image" title="GOTTMIK drag race us season 13" height="1000" width="1333" msid="92416037" hostid="261"></div><p>"I think exposure to this sort of thing normalizes both queerness and being transgender to little kids," Horowitz said. "Now kids growing up will see people play with gender, and that affirms that that's something that's OK to do."</p><p>This representation is cause for celebration, according to the LGBTQ charity Stonewall. "'Drag Race' shows a kaleidoscope of possibilities of what people can be in a really positive and uplifting way," Jeffrey Ingold, the charity's head of media, told Insider.</p><p>"Representation matters, because you can't be what you can't see," he added.</p><p>Crystal, a former contestant on the show's UK spinoff, agreed that the show had championed self-expression.</p><div type="image" title="crystal drag queen uk" height="1800" width="2400" msid="92416040" hostid="261"></div><p>"Young people are seeing that it's freeing to realize that the rule book on gender you've been given by society is not necessarily the one that you need to adhere to," the drag queen said. "I feel like we're now on the verge of getting a generation of kids who don't feel shame about their sexuality or gender."</p><p>But Crystal, who famously boasts a chest of hair, argued that too much focus had been placed on "female illusion" instead of dismantling gender norms.</p><p>"Hopefully people take the message that drag is about expressing yourself however you want and not just about having giant hips, boobs, and lips," Crystal added.</p><h2>'I don't think it's done huge amounts for females, women, and for trans people'</h2><p>Another former contestant, Divina de Campo, also said the show could do more to fully represent LGBTQ communities.</p><div type="image" title="divina de campo drag race" height="459" width="613" msid="92416042" hostid="261"></div><p>"'Drag Race' has raised the bar on queer visibility," they told Insider. "But we have to be very aware that it's male queer visibility. There's practically no queer female visibility, and there's only one male trans person in over 20 seasons.</p><p>"I think it's done great things about opening up conversations about the power of femininity and owning that as a male person, but I don't think it's done huge amounts for women and for trans people," de Campo said.</p><p>"The message is that if you're male, you're acceptable. That, to me, is thorny," they added.</p><p><em><strong>Read more: </strong><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/stocks-to-buy-cheap-high-quality-lgbt-inclusive-credit-suisse-2020-12">Buy these 28 discounted stocks from an LGBT-inclusive index that's crushed its global benchmark since 2010, Credit Suisse says</a></em></p><p>While the show has championed queer issues and helped to empower some young LGBTQ+ people, others say more could be done to represent a broader swath of identities.</p><p>"'Drag Race' was the representation I needed when I was growing up," Austin said. "But now it's important for the current generations to see more trans and nonbinary people. Then they'll also be able to think, 'This is my time.'"</p><p><em>This article is part of  <a href="https://www.insider.com/we-us-ours-lgbtq-communities-and-queer-spaces">"We/Us/Ours,"</a> a series about LGBTQ communities and spaces that inspire queer unity.</em></p>

By championing self-expression, 'RuPaul's Drag Race' has encouraged a generation of young LGBTQ+ fans to come out

<p><a href="https://www.insider.com/we-us-ours-lgbtq-communities-and-queer-spaces"></a></p><div type="image" title="Photos of Gottmik, Kerri Colby, RuPaul, Jasmine Kennedie and Willow Pill lead 2x1" height="1167" width="2334" msid="92260880" hostid="261"></div><ul class="summary-list"><li>The Emmy-winning show "<keyword id="1560287" type="PERSON" weightage="60" keywordseo="RuPaul" source="Orion">RuPaul</keyword>'s Drag Race" has encouraged a new generation of LGBTQ+ fans to come out.</li><li>The casting of Gottmik, the drag persona of the first trans man to compete, was a "watershed" moment, an academic said.</li><li>But more could be done to support female, nonbinary, and trans viewers, two former contestants said.</li></ul><p>Brandon Austin struggled with feeling different in high school.</p><p>"I wasn't myself at all. Nobody was gay, and I was an easy target for bullies. I felt abnormal," he told Insider. "Then, at 16, my best friend introduced me to 'RuPaul's Drag Race.'"</p><p>Austin, a 20-year-old from Kent, England, is one of many young LGBTQ+ people whose coming-out story involves "<a href="https://www.insider.com/rupauls-drag-race-2019-1">RuPaul's Drag Race</a>."</p><p>"Without 'RuPaul's Drag Race,' I wouldn't have had the confidence to come out as gay," Austin told Insider. "I think I'd still be a few years away from coming out."</p><p>The Emmy-winning reality show, broadcast on VH1 and Paramount+ in the US, follows RuPaul Charles' search for "America's next drag superstar." It's been described as "<a href="https://www.thrillist.com/entertainment/nation/rupaul-drag-race-contestants-season-all-stars-ranked">the closest gay culture gets to a sports league</a>."</p><p>Throughout its 14 seasons — and numerous spin-offs — it has shed light on issues important to LGBTQ+ communities, such as <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/calgary/slay-stigma-hiv-drag-queen-rupaul-twisted-element-1.5311140">HIV</a>, <a href="https://www.dailyxtra.com/sober-drag-queens-addiction-179896">substance use</a>, <a href="https://www.them.us/story/rupauls-drag-race-first-openly-trans-male-contestant-gottmik">transgender identities</a>, <a href="https://www.facebook.com/jujubeefans/posts/i-only-had-my-parents-until-i-was-15-my-father-died-and-the-same-year-my-mother-/10153068215605027/">family abandonment</a>, and <a href="https://ew.com/tv/2017/04/28/rupauls-drag-race-peppermint-coming-out/">coming out</a>.</p><p>It has also brought the art of female impersonation into the mainstream.</p><p>Drag's place in the zeitgeist means that more young LGBTQ+ people watching the show have visible queer icons they can look up to. This representation is significant for many <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/gen-z-is-smartphone-generation-2019-7">Gen Zers</a> who have grown up with the show over its 12 years. For several, it has been integral to their being out and proud about their identities.</p><p>"Seeing people being accepted for who they are made me realize that I am normal," Austin told Insider.</p><h2>'It helped me to accept myself'</h2><p>By day, Austin works in an Amazon warehouse. By night, he moonlights as a "glitterific" drag queen called Sophia Stardust.</p><p>Austin, who has been performing as Sophia Stardust for four years, credited the show with helping him to embrace his sexuality and giving him the confidence to pursue drag.</p><div type="image" title="teenage drag queen" height="360" width="480" msid="80600685" hostid="261"></div><p>Austin had grown up with little exposure to gay <keyword id="24504" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="60" keywordseo="culture" source="Orion">culture</keyword>. But "RuPaul's Drag Race" was a revelation.</p><p>"I was living in an area where all I saw was straight people," he said. "Then, watching this show, I saw a new world — a world where people were getting recognition and praise for existing as these magical creatures.</p><p>"It helped me to accept myself," he continued. "Shortly after, I came out as gay. Then a week after that, I got a cheap wig from my neighbor's attic, bought some Superdrug makeup, and got into drag for the very first time."</p><div type="image" title="drag queen uk teenager" height="360" width="480" msid="80600686" hostid="261"></div><h2>'I'd definitely still be struggling with my gender identity'</h2><p>Like Austin, 17-year-old Neptune is thankful for "RuPaul's Drag Race's" role in their coming-out story.</p><p>The nonbinary drag queen, who was assigned female at birth, said they became confident after being introduced to the show.</p><p>"Without 'RuPaul's Drag Race,' I probably wouldn't be calling myself nonbinary," they said. "I'd definitely still be struggling with my gender identity."</p><div type="image" title="neptune teenage drag queen" height="360" width="480" msid="80600687" hostid="261"></div><p>Neptune began watching the show when they were 11 years old. At first, they said, they thought drag was "just for men."</p><p>After watching a few seasons of the show, Neptune went to Pride Glasgow, Scotland's largest LGBTQ+ festival, where they met a drag queen for the first time.</p><p>"I found out from them that there were loads of AFAB and gender-nonconforming queens," Neptune said. "This gave me the confidence to start doing drag myself."</p><p>They said the show introduced them to a world that allowed them to explore their gender. Neptune came out as nonbinary this year.</p><p><em><strong>Read more:</strong> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/tomboyx-cofounder-built-inclusive-gender-neutral-clothing-brand-2020-11">LGBTQ customers spend $917 billion a year on brands they care about. Here's how the cofounder of the inclusive clothing line TomboyX harnessed her strict upbringing to build a beloved business with her wife.</a></em></p><p>"'Drag Race' was a huge inspiration and was my entry into a community," Neptune told Insider. "My life would be very different without the show."</p><p>One queen who Neptune said was an important part of their journey is Gottmik, the drag persona of 24-year-old Kade Gottlieb, <a href="https://www.them.us/story/rupauls-drag-race-first-openly-trans-male-contestant-gottmik">the first trans man cast on the show</a>.</p><p>"Having Gottmik on the show is incredibly important," they said. "Casting trans queens introduces and normalizes transness."</p><h2>Gottlieb, aka Gottmik, is the first trans man to compete on the show</h2><p>Gottmik broadened the show's scope of what constitutes a drag queen.</p><p>Gottlieb was the show's first transgender man to compete, its first queen to be assigned female at birth, and its first contestant to have had top surgery, a procedure that trans men can undergo to remove breast tissue.</p><p>For many of the show's fans, Gottmik's casting was a major turning point.</p><div type="image" title="gottmik drag race rupaul" height="1724" width="2299" msid="80600688" hostid="261"></div><p>In 2018, RuPaul <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2018/mar/08/rupaul-drag-race-transgender-performers-diversity">said he would "probably not" include trans women</a> on the show. The host <a href="https://www.billboard.com/articles/news/pride/8232231/rupaul-responds-backlash-hurtful-comments/">eventually backtracked</a>, but the comment has consistently been criticized as exclusionary and transphobic.</p><p>Since then, numerous trans women have appeared on the show.</p><p>Season 14, which aired this year, included five trans contestants. Kornbread "The Snack" Jeté and Kerri Colby were out when they entered the workroom, with fellow contestants Bosco, Jasmine Kennedie, and Willow Pill opening up about their identities during or after the season's filming.</p><p>Nonbinary contestants have also appeared on the show. And in the third season of the UK spinoff "RuPaul's Drag Race UK," a cisgender woman — Victoria Scone — was featured.</p><p>But Gottmik's inclusion in Season 13 represented a seismic shift, marking a widening net of who can compete.</p><p><em><strong>Read more: </strong><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/sephora-inclusivity-lesson-viral-incident-sza-2020-2">Sephora's VP of marketing explains what a viral incident with the musician SZA taught the company about inclusivity</a></em></p><p>In Gottmik's first appearance on the show, the drag queen <a href="https://www.them.us/story/gottmik-discusses-top-surgery-pronouns-ru-pauls-drag-race-season-13">spoke frankly about experiencing gender dysphoria</a> and having had top surgery. Pronouns were also discussed: "She" in drag, "he" out of drag.</p><p>"Coming out on the episode and talking about gender dysphoria and top surgery was weird for me. I don't even talk about it with my friends," Gottlieb told Insider. "At first, I felt a little bit concerned about my family and how they were going to react to seeing it on TV for the first time.</p><p>"But I took a step back and realized this is a real moment for trans people. Trans people go through dysphoria and have top-surgery moments," he added. "I just had to own it, kill it, and be honored to have such a platform."</p><p>Gottlieb said he recognized that his being on the show could validate someone's journey to feeling secure in their gender identity.</p><p>"I have the most amount of messages I could have ever imagined from young trans guys wanting to explore drag but who are worried it might invalidate their gender or people might look at them in some sort of way," he said. "Seeing that I helped them realize that drag is just an art form, not a gender, is so amazing for me to see."</p><h2>'Representation matters'</h2><p>Gottmik's casting was profound for many young <keyword id="729067" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="60" keywordseo="LGBTQ" source="Orion">LGBTQ</keyword> people and particularly trans people, Katie Horowitz, an assistant professor of gender and sexuality studies at Davidson College, told Insider in 2021.</p><p>"Gottmik's casting is a watershed moment," Horowitz said. "To see somebody who was assigned female who then transitioned to identifying as a man performing as a woman is an incredibly new and groundbreaking conversation."</p><div type="image" title="GOTTMIK drag race us season 13" height="1000" width="1333" msid="80600689" hostid="261"></div><p>"I think exposure to this sort of thing normalizes both queerness and being transgender to little kids," Horowitz said. "Now kids growing up will see people play with gender, and that affirms that that's something that's OK to do."</p><p>This representation is cause for celebration, according to the LGBTQ charity Stonewall. "'Drag Race' shows a kaleidoscope of possibilities of what people can be in a really positive and uplifting way," Jeffrey Ingold, the charity's head of media, told Insider.</p><p>"Representation matters, because you can't be what you can't see," he added.</p><p>Crystal, a former contestant on the show's UK spinoff, agreed that the show had championed self-expression.</p><div type="image" title="crystal drag queen uk" height="1800" width="2400" msid="80600691" hostid="261"></div><p>"Young people are seeing that it's freeing to realize that the rule book on gender you've been given by society is not necessarily the one that you need to adhere to," the drag queen said. "I feel like we're now on the verge of getting a generation of kids who don't feel shame about their sexuality or gender."</p><p>But Crystal, who famously boasts a chest of hair, argued that too much focus had been placed on "female illusion" instead of dismantling gender norms.</p><p>"Hopefully people take the message that drag is about expressing yourself however you want and not just about having giant hips, boobs, and lips," Crystal added.</p><h2>'I don't think it's done huge amounts for females, women, and for trans people'</h2><p>Another former contestant, Divina de Campo, also said the show could do more to fully represent LGBTQ communities.</p><div type="image" title="divina de campo drag race" height="459" width="613" msid="80600692" hostid="261"></div><p>"'Drag Race' has raised the bar on queer visibility," they told Insider. "But we have to be very aware that it's male queer visibility. There's practically no queer female visibility, and there's only one male trans person in over 20 seasons.</p><p>"I think it's done great things about opening up conversations about the power of femininity and owning that as a male person, but I don't think it's done huge amounts for women and for trans people," de Campo said.</p><p>"The message is that if you're male, you're acceptable. That, to me, is thorny," they added.</p><p><em><strong>Read more: </strong><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/stocks-to-buy-cheap-high-quality-lgbt-inclusive-credit-suisse-2020-12">Buy these 28 discounted stocks from an LGBT-inclusive index that's crushed its global benchmark since 2010, Credit Suisse says</a></em></p><p>While the show has championed queer issues and helped to empower some young LGBTQ+ people, others say more could be done to represent a broader swath of identities.</p><p>"'Drag Race' was the representation I needed when I was growing up," Austin said. "But now it's important for the current generations to see more trans and nonbinary people. Then they'll also be able to think, 'This is my time.'"</p>

<ul class="summary-list"><li><keyword id="13285240" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="kelis" source="Orion">Kelis</keyword> has elevated the music industry by remaining uncategorized and authentic for the past 20 years.</li><li>"I didn't need anybody else's validation," the singer-turned-chef told Insider earlier this month.</li></ul><p>Kelis emerged on the music scene as an artist<strong> </strong>that couldn't be boxed into a genre.</p><p>After landing a record deal in 1998, the Harlemite burst onto the music scene with her jazz and disco-inspired debut album, "<a href="https://www.udiscovermusic.com/stories/kelis-kaleidoscope-album/">Kaleidoscope.</a>" Several albums later and Kelis is a platinum-selling, Grammy-nominated artist, who's worked with heavy hitters in the music industry, including Outkast, Enrique Iglesias, Diplo, and of course her famed collaboration with The Neptunes.</p><p>Still, her success in the music industry wasn't without challenges. Kelis has always been open about the hurdles she faced in a world that simply wasn't ready for her.</p><p>"The issue of race has been such a big part of my entire career," she told <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us">The Guardian</a> in 2020. "It was never something that I struggled with personally. But it was other people's confusions. Macy Gray and I were the first [Black women] to be considered alternative."</p><p>"But people were like: 'But you're Black and alternative? What is that?' Which already is a stupid-ass question, but it was put in our faces all the time," she added.</p><p>Kelis credited her parents with how she remained authentic, pushing past society's expectations of Black women at the time, to remain true to herself and her art.</p><p>"I didn't need anybody else's validation," she told Insider earlier this month while <a href="https://www.myfoodandfamily.com/brands/kraftsingles/products">promoting her new partnership with Kraft Singles</a>. "I had such a strong upbringing — my parents were active in our lives growing up and so — I wasn't really ever looking for validation from anybody else, you know?"</p><p>"Being an artist, that's such a key component to being true to yourself," Kelis added, noting that she had to push back on the music industry often. "With every board meeting and every conversation that came up, I just was like, 'This doesn't make any sense. How would you guys know better than me for me?' Like it's not even logical."</p><p>Kelis admitted that this sometimes made things "difficult" but "finding that balance and finding that inner peace" was all the assurance she needed. That peace easily translated on her songs, in her music videos, in her fashion choices — and how fans gravitated toward her <a href="https://www.thefader.com/2017/11/14/kelis-style-iconic-looks">trendsetting</a> ways. It's not easy to <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N3JFwd1bk4Q" target="_blank" rel="noopener">scream on a track</a> and make it sound...well, good.</p><p>"It was more so like, 'Am I content?'" she continued. "'Do I feel like I was true to myself today and do I feel like I did what I set out to do?'"</p><p>"I'm really goal-oriented. I'm always focused, right? I focus on what I'm interested in at the time and I don't stop until I get to a place where I feel like 'OK, now I can try something else,'" she said.</p><h2><strong>Kelis doesn't look like she's slowing down in the studio or in the kitchen</strong></h2><p><strong></strong></p><div type="image" title="Kelis performs during RNB Fridays Live at Qudos Bank Arena on October 12, 2017 in Sydney, Australia." height="1371" width="1828" msid="89928475" hostid="261"></div><p>The singer-turned-chef gave up life in the city to live on a farm with her family, letting her fans in bit by bit via social media. Kelis loves it so much that there are little to no conveniences of city life that she's missing out on, she said. </p><p>"For me as a mom, chef, and just someone who really cares," she explained, "it gives you such freedom and control over what you're putting in so that you can have better control over what you're putting out."</p><p>Though she's been touring for the past 20 years, the Le Cordon Bleu-trained chef has also made a name for herself behind the stove burner. Her love of food has even led to her hosting Netflix's "<a href="https://www.netflix.com/title/81032347">Cooked With Cannabis</a>" and a partnership with Kraft Singles. Last week, <a href="https://open.spotify.com/album/6xLrmzVni3BdobPAhQFr83?highlight=spotify:track:7lDxl065bFsWkND9fUF0YD" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Kraft released a single, "Square It,"</a> featuring Kelis — a tasty pairing of music and food.</p><p>An American staple, the collaboration is a no-brainer, especially when it comes to incorporating the cheese into meals for her kids. Some of her family's favorites are pizza or even cheese fries.</p><p>"Friday nights are kind of — I don't need to say junk food because it's not like really junk food — but kind of one of those days where we don't get fancy," she said. " It's not fancy, but it's delicious."</p>

Kelis reveals the secret to staying authentic &mdash; whether it's in her music or in her kitchen

<br /><br /><ul><li>The National Aeronautics and Space Administration’s (NASA) planet-hunting satellite has discovered its first planet with two stars.</li><li>The Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) observations show that the planet is nearly 7 times the size of Earth. </li><li><keyword id="8532011" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="planets-with-two-stars">Planets with two stars</keyword> are extremely difficult to spot and only 12 such systems have been discovered so far.</li></ul>Most planets orbit a singular star — like the Earth orbiting the Sun. Very few orbit two stars and they’re even more rare to find. In fact, only 12 such <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/nasa-spots-an-enormous-planet-outside-our-solar-system-orbiting-two-suns/articleshow/52743512.cms">circumbinary planets</a> have been discovered so far.<br /><br />Nonetheless, the National Aeronautics And Space Administration’s (<a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/nasas-newest-planet-hunting-telescope-just-discovered-a-super-earth-and-2-sub-neptunes-less-than-75-light-years-away-among-the-closest-exoplanets-ever-found/articleshow/70437433.cms?src=as_rs">NASA</a>) planet-hunting satellite was able to spot one such planet 1,300 light-years away — TOI 1338 b.<br /><br />The Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) revealed its observations during the 235th American Astronomical Society meeting in Honolulu on Monday.<br /><br />
  <div type="image" title="tess6_edited" msid="73133577" hostid="261" caption="&amp;lt;p&amp;gt;NASA&amp;#39;s illustration of what T 1338 b would look like&amp;lt;/p&amp;gt;"></div>



<br /><br /><strong>A planet 7 times the size of Earth<br /></strong><br />Even though planets with two stars are rare, science-fiction has long hypothesized their existence. In <em>Star Wars, </em>Luke Skywalker’s home planet, Tatooine, has two Suns. In <em>Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, </em>Magrathea is a circumbinary planet described as “the most improbable planet that ever existed”.<br /><br />
  
  <div type="image" title="tess2_edited" msid="73133365" hostid="261" caption="&amp;lt;p&amp;gt;Iconic scene from Star Wars of two Suns setting over Tatooine&amp;lt;/p&amp;gt;"></div>





<br />TESS’ discovery, the planet TOI 1338 b, is located in the Pictor constellation, which means ‘painter’ in Latin. It’s nearly 7 times the size of Earth. Its mass is closer to Neptune or Saturn. It’s the only known planet to in orbit around the two stars.<br /><br />Observations of past circumbinary planets show that all but one of the systems has a planet bigger than Jupiter. Since it would be easier to detect bigger planets, scientists believe that there is a size limit to planets circling two stars.<br /><br />
	
  <div type="image" title="tess7_edited" msid="73133553" hostid="261" caption="&amp;lt;p&amp;gt;TOI 1338 b&amp;#39;s orbit around its two stars&amp;lt;/p&amp;gt;"></div>




<br />TOI 1338 b orbits in almost exactly the same plane as the stars, so it experiences regular stellar eclipses. The stars take around 15 days to complete an orbit around each other. One is 10% bigger than our Sun, while the other is one-third the size.<br /><br />Steller eclipses on <a href="https://motherboard.vice.com/read/astronomers-discover-the-universes-longest-known-stellar-eclipse">TYC 2505-672-1</a>, another planetary system with two stars, last as long as 3.5 years.<br /><br /><strong>Pictor constellation’s potential for human habitation in outer space<br /></strong><br />The Pictor constellation is also home to Beta Pictoris, its second-brightest star which is surrounded by an unusual disk of carbon and only 63.4 light-years from Earth. It is the first debris disk to ever be found circling another star — akin to Earth’s Asteroid Belt.<br /><br />An orange dwarf in the constellation, HD 40307, has six planets in orbit around it. One of those planets, HD 40307 g, is a potential <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/scientists-have-discovered-water-vapor-on-a-potentially-habitable-super-earth-for-the-first-time-that-planet-is-now-our-best-bet-for-finding-alien-life-/articleshow/71086479.cms">super-Earth</a>. This means that scientists believe that the planet’s atmosphere and terrain may be suitable for human habitation one day.<br /><br />Another star in the constellation, a red dwarf around 12.76 light-years from Earth, was found to have two super-Earths in orbit around it in 2014.<br /><br />Launched in April 2018, TESS had one mission — to search for planets outside our solar system, and hopefully find one capable of supporting human life. Even though it is yet to locate a planet fit as a back-up for Earth, this discovery is its first world with two stars.<br /><br /><strong>See also:<br /><a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/science/space/news/indian-scientists-spot-a-galaxy-260-light-years-away-that-isnt-giving-birth-to-any-new-stars/articleshow/73104110.cms">Indian scientists spot a galaxy 260 light-years away that isn't giving birth to any new stars</a><br /><br /><a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/science/research/news/scientists-have-a-dusty-new-way-to-create-a-star-on-earth/articleshow/73029565.cms">Scientists have a dusty new way to create a star on Earth</a><br /><br /><a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/science/space/news/astronomers-accidentally-discover-a-new-galaxy-with-as-many-stars-as-the-milky-way/articleshow/71715185.cms">Astronomers ‘accidentally’ discover a new galaxy with as many stars as the Milky Way</a></strong><br />

NASA's planet-hunter uncovers its first world with two stars 1,300 light-years away

<ul class="summary-list"><li><strong>Astronomers have discovered a new Earth-sized planet outside our solar system</strong>, named TOI 700 d, 100 light-years away.</li><li>The planet is in <strong>its star's habitable zone</strong> and has the potential to hold liquid water.</li><li><strong>F</strong><strong>uture research could give scientists more information about the planet's surface and atmosphere. </strong></li><li><strong><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/?hprecirc-bullet">Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories</a>. </strong></li></ul><p>NASA astronomers have found yet another planet outside our solar system that has the potential to host alien life.</p><p>On Monday, a team of researchers announced that the agency's planet-hunting telescope, the <a href="https://www.nasa.gov/tess-transiting-exoplanet-survey-satellite">Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS)</a>, has discovered an Earth-sized exoplanet that has the potential to hold liquid water.</p><p>The planet, called TOI 700 d, is about 100 light-years away, and it orbits a red dwarf star with about 40% the mass of our sun.</p><p>TOI 700 d sits in its star's <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/goldilocks-exoplanet-habitability-internal-heat-2016-8">Goldilocks-like habitable zone</a> - the area around a star where it's not too hot and not too cold for water on orbiting planets to remain in a liquid state. This particular exoplanet (the term for planets <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/extrasolar-planet-nasa-discoveries-data-animated-map-2019-7">outside our solar system</a>) is about 20% bigger than Earth, and it receives about 86% as much light energy as Earth gets from the sun. It's one of <a href="https://www.nationalgeographic.com/astrobiology/goldilocks-worlds/">only five Earth-sized planets</a> researchers have ever found in a star's habitable zone.</p><p>It's also the first Earth-sized planet TESS has ever found within its star's habitable zone. (The space telescope became operational in 2018.)</p><p>Exoplanets  that orbit red dwarfs like TOI 700 aren't always the best places to look for life, since such stars are prone to powerful flares. Those can fry a planet's atmosphere, making the chance of alien life there very slim. </p><p>But in the case of TOI 700, the conditions seem just right. </p><p>"In 11 months of data, we saw no flares from the star, which improves the chances TOI 700 d is habitable and makes it easier to model its atmospheric and surface conditions," Emily Gilbert, who leads the team that found the exoplanet, <a href="https://www.nasa.gov/feature/goddard/2020/nasa-planet-hunter-finds-its-1st-earth-size-habitable-zone-world">said in a NASA press release</a>.</p><h2>Three planets, one star</h2><p>TESS hunts for planets using what's known as the transit method: The telescope measures light from thousands of stars, then notes when a particular star's light dims, since that's a sign that a planet has passed in front of it.</p><p>This discovery, announced at the <a href="https://aas.org/meetings/aas235">annual meeting of the American Astronomical Society</a>, showed that two other planets orbit the same star as TOI 700 d.</p><p>The innermost one of the trio is a rocky world that's also close to the size of Earth, but it's far too close to its star to be habitable. The middle planet is likely a miniature version of Neptune - a gaseous world 2.6 times as big as Earth - but it's not in the habitable zone, either.</p><p>All three planets are tidally locked, meaning the same side of the planet faces the star at all times, leaving the other half in perpetual darkness.</p><p>In order to be sure of their finding , a second telescope - <a href="https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/spitzer/main/index.html">NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope</a> - also observed the star system to confirm TESS's findings. </p><h2>Modeling TOI 700 d's atmosphere</h2><p>The fact that TOI 700 d is the same size as our planet doesn't mean that conditions on its surface mirror Earth's.</p><p>Until astronomers can figure out how much mass TOI 700 d has, they can't be sure if the planet is a rocky world like ours or gaseous one like one of its sisters.</p><p><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/upcoming-telescopes-will-transform-our-understanding-of-the-universe-2019-11">Upcoming, advanced telescopes</a>, however, could enable scientists to make those measurements. NASA's James A. Webb telescope, which is slated to come online in 2021, could collect the data astronomers need to get a clear picture of what TOI 700 d's surface is like. Plus, because TOI 700 is a bright star relatively close to Earth, ground-based telescopes could also look to see how much its starlight pierces the three exoplanets' atmospheres.</p><p>For now, though, a second research team offered several models of what the TOI 700 d planet's environment might look like, based on its size and the type of star it orbits.</p><p>One of those models suggested the exoplanet could be covered in a vast ocean, with a carbon-dioxide-dominated atmosphere similar to what scientists suspect surrounded Mars when it was young. Another model proposed TOI 700 d could be a cloudless version of our modern Earth that's all land with no sea.</p><p>"It's exciting because no matter what we find out about the planet, it's going to look completely different from what we have here on Earth," Gabrielle Engelmann-Suissa, a research assistant at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, said in a press release.</p><h2>Other exoplanets are even more promising</h2><p>TOI 700 d is not the only planet in the universe that researchers think could be habitable for alien life. In fact, it's far from the front-runner.</p><p>In September 2019, scientists announced that they'd <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/water-vapor-on-potentially-habitable-super-earth-exoplanet-2019-9">detected water vapor</a> on a potentially habitable planet for the first time. The planet, called K2-18b, is a <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/nasa-tess-telescope-finds-nearby-super-earth-sub-neptunes-2019-7">super-Earth</a> that orbits a red dwarf star 110 light-years away.</p><p>K2-18b is the only known exoplanet with water vapor, an atmosphere, and a temperature range that could support liquid water on its surface. That makes it our "best candidate for habitability," one researcher said.</p><p>In 2016, astronomers also discovered <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/astronomers-find-3-earth-sized-planets-2016-5">three Earth-size planets</a> similar to TOI 700 d orbiting a dim red dwarf star about 39 light-years away. A year later, they discovered that seven planets actually pass through the habitable zone of that star, named TRAPPIST-1. Three or four of those planets may have conditions conducive to extraterrestrial life.</p><p>"We've made a giant, accelerated leap forward in the search for habitable worlds," Sara Seager, a planetary scientist at MIT who wasn't involved in the research, said of the TRAPPIST-1 exoplanets in February 2017. "In this system, it's like Goldilocks has many sisters."</p>

NASA's planet-hunting telescope found an Earth-size exoplanet 100 light-years away. It could hide a vast ocean.

<p></p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_right"><div><div class="image on-image"></div><p></p></div></div>It's been over 3,000 days and nearly three billion miles since NASA's New Horizons spacecraft set out for Pluto.<p>It's a mission that faced countless roadblocks and setbacks before it ever got off the ground. Now the spacecraft is closing in on Pluto and its moon system that sit at the very edge of our solar system.</p><p>This will be the first time we've ever visited the distant dwarf planet.</p><p dir="ltr">The National Space Society put together <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aky9FFj4ybE&amp;utm_content=buffer61aa8&amp;utm_medium=social&amp;utm_source=twitter.com&amp;utm_campaign=buffer" target="_parent">an incredible video</a> preview of the history-making moment. It has the vibe of a movie trailer, complete with epic narration and stunning visuals, and it perfectly captures why space enthusiasts are so psyched about the New Horizons mission.</p><p>The video sweeps you through a timeline of the last half century of space exploration using beautiful images of each planet we've explored, starting with Venus in 1962 and ending with Neptune in 1989.</p><p>New Horizons will reach Pluto and its moons on July 14, and they will be "the farthest worlds ever to be explored by humankind," the video says.</p><p>So far that the sun appears as a faint dot:</p><p></p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table full"><div><div class="image on-image"></div><p></p></div></div>And the moment we reach Pluto, we'll get an up close look at a world no one has seen before. All we've glimpsed of Pluto are <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/this-is-the-first-colour-photo-taken-of-pluto-2015-4" target="_parent">fuzzy, far-away images</a> captured by the Hubble Space Telescope. New Horizons will send back images thousands of times closer.<p></p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table full"><div><div class="image on-image"></div><p></p></div></div> The closing line of the video is perfect and plays on the mission's name:<p>"Who knows what wonders await us at these new horizons."</p><p>We'll have to wait and see.</p><p class="full"></p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"></div><p></p></div></div><p>NASA is already <a href="http://seeplutonow.com/" target="_parent">counting down</a> the days, hours, minutes, and even seconds until the arrival.</p><p>You can watch the whole video below, which we definitely recommend:</p><div><div></div></div>    <div class="margin-top">        <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/nasa-sun-space-solar-prominence-erupting-2015-5">NASA captured an incredible event on the sun's surface on video</a></h3>        <div>            <div>        <div class="ooyala-video-player" data-video-autoplay="false" data-video-id="d5N3Z3dDpZN9P5qHXy0KYevy7VYOrdF4" data-player-variable="ooyalapopvideo" id="ooyalaplayer_popvideo" style="width:1280px;height:720px"></div>        </div>        </div>            </div>

This video perfectly captures why we are so excited about NASA's mission to Pluto

<p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table full"><div><div class="image"><p class="source"><span>David A. Aguilar (CfA)</span></p><p class="caption">The "Godzilla of Earths!" is in the foreground. Behind it is the smaller 'lava world'. Their sun, in the back, appears to have been created only 3 billion years after the Big Bang.</p></div><p></p></div></div>Based on what we know about how solar systems form, researchers thought that a giant rocky planet could not exist. But they just found one that's 17 times Earth's mass. They've dubbed it the "Mega-Earth."</p>
<p>Scientists say the new planet may have "profound implications for the possibility of life" on extra-solar planets, <a href="http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2014-06/hcfa-afa053014.php">according to a press release The Harvard-Smithsonian Center For Astrophysics</a>. They announced the find in a talk at the American Astronomical Society meeting in Boston, Massachusetts.</p>
<p>Researchers have always thought 'Mega-Earths' were impossible since any planets that big would attract hydrogen gas, forming a gas planet like Jupiter.</p>
<h2>Meet the Mega-Earth</h2>
<p>Mega-Earth, also known as Kepler-10c, is 18,000 miles in diameter and 2.3 times as large as Earth. It appears to be as solid as the planet beneath our feet.</p>
<p>Kepler-10c was previously known to astronomers, but they had not yet measured its mass. Due to its size - 2.3 times that of Earth - it was assumed to be a "mini-Neptune," a planet encased in thick gas. But the new observations have confirmed that it is rocky, not gassy.</p>
<p>It orbits an 11 billion-year-old star named Kepler-10 located 560 light years away from Earth. Its year lasts only 45 days.</p>
<p>Interestingly, this solar system is over twice as old as our own - it was born less than 3 billion years after the Big Bang.</p>
<p>"We were very surprised when we realized what we had found," study researcher Xavier Dumusque, of the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, said in a press release.</p>
<p>We've always thought a rocky planet is the best place to look for life, since life on a gas giant is hard to imagine. From what they've observed, the planet may also have an atmosphere with thin clouds, another good sign.</p>
<h2>A mysterious system</h2>
<p>Researchers had previously thought that this kind of planet impossible.</p>
<p>Not only did they think something that big would be a gas giant, but they didn't even think the elements that make up a rocky planet existed in our universe when this solar system was born: The early universe had only the lighter elements of hydrogen and helium. Heavier elements were forged from these lighter ones in stars over billions of years.</p>
<p>Because of this, many scientists hadn't been looking for rocky planets in these very old solar systems.</p>
<p>"Finding Kepler-10c tells us that rocky planets could form much earlier than we thought. And if you can make rocks, you can make life," study researcher Dimitar Sasselov, of the Harvard Origins of Life Initiative, said in a release.</p>
<p>The mega-Earth isn't the only weird planet in its solar system. There's also a 'lava-world' 1.5 times Earth's size whose year lasts only 20 hours.</p>

Scientists Have Discovered A Planet They Thought Was Impossible

<p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_right"><div><div class="image on-image"></div><p></p></div></div><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/how-to-watch-new-horizons-pluto-flyby-2015-7">On Tuesday</a>, July 14, an epic once-in-a-lifetime event will take place: NASA will fly their spacecraft, New Horizons, by one of the last stops in our solar system: Pluto.</p><p>New Horizons is the first spacecraft ever designed to reach Pluto, and the scientific information it gathers on Tuesday will eventually rewrite the textbook on this tiny icy world of which we know so little.</p><p>The New Horizons mission is unique in many ways and even has a few secrets on board.</p><p>Here are 11 astounding facts about NASA's epic mission to Pluto:</p><p><strong>1. The launch of New Horizons holds the record for being the fastest in history.</strong></p><p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table full"><div><div class="image on-image"></div><p></p></div></div>On January 19, 2006, NASA strapped the New Horizons spacecraft on top of an Atlas V rocket and launched it into space. It was the fastest launch in history, reaching speeds of over 36,000 miles per hour.</p><p>Just nine hours after launch, the spacecraft was already to the Moon. It took the Apollo program astronauts three days to reach the Moon. New Horizons got there eight times faster.</p><p><strong>2. When New Horizons first launched, Pluto was still a planet.</strong></p><p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table full"><div><div class="image on-image"></div><p></p></div></div>When New Horizons launched, scientists were already whispering concerns about Pluto's status as a planet. That's because an object similar in size to Pluto, called Eris, <a href="http://www.universetoday.com/13573/why-pluto-is-no-longer-a-planet/">was discovered in 2005</a>, and astronomers had to decide whether Eris was to become the 10th planet, or if a major change was needed in how we define a planet.</p><p>Ultimately, Pluto's planethood was stripped eight months after New Horizons launched.</p><p><strong>3. Although New Horizons was always designed to reach Pluto, it had to fly close to Jupiter first. </strong></p><p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table full"><div><div class="image on-image"></div><p></p></div></div>In 2007, New Horizons had an important encounter with Jupiter. The spacecraft needed the giant planet's immense gravity, which would act like a sling shot for the spacecraft, launching it along its way to Pluto.</p><p>Luckily the flyby was a success, and the event boosted the spacecraft's speed by 9,000 miles per hour. If it had not used Jupiter's gravity for assistance, the New Horizons mission would have taken an extra three years to reach Pluto!</p><p><strong>4. New Horizons took the first video of an erupting, extra-terrestrial volcano.</strong></p><p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table full"><div><div class="image on-image"></div><p></p></div></div>One of Jupiter's moons Io has more than 400 active volcanoes, making it the <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/jupiter-moon-io-on-earth-and-north-america-2014-12">most geologically active and driest object</a> in our solar system. When New Horizons was approaching Jupiter, it snapped a series of photos of Io that revealed volcanic plumes near the surface.</p><p>Combining these pictures provides the first time-lapse video of an erupting volcano outside of Earth.</p><p><strong>5. New Horizons is carrying the ashes of Pluto's discoverer Clyde Tombaugh.</strong></p><p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table full"><div><div class="image on-image"></div><p></p></div></div>Tombaugh discovered the dwarf planet in 1930, and when he died 67 years later, he requested that his ashes be sent to space.</p><p>NASA did him one better when they attached a portion of his ashes to the upper deck of the New Horizons spacecraft before it launched in 2006. His remains are now on their way to the very planet he discovered.</p><p>Tombaught's ashes are just one of <a href="http://www.universetoday.com/20155/stowaways-revealed-on-new-horizons-spacecraft/">nine secret items</a> on board New Horizons.</p><p><strong>6. New Horizons is powered with nuclear fuel.</strong></p><p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table full"><div><div class="image on-image"></div><p></p></div></div>New Horizons is traveling so far away from the sun that it can't rely on solar panels to generate energy. Instead, its nuclear battery converts the radiation from decaying plutonium atoms into electricity so it can steer itself through Pluto's system and power its instrument on board so they can collect as much information on Pluto as possible.</p><p>These kinds of batteries are in short supply. In fact, its estimated that NASA <a href="http://www.wired.com/2013/09/plutonium-238-problem/">only has enough Plutonium</a> to make just a few more.</p><p><strong>7. New Horizons has seven instruments on board. Two of them have names based from a '50s television series.</strong></p><p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table full"><div><div class="image"></div><p></p></div></div>Five of the seven instruments on New Horizons have acronyms. Some of them spell out familiar names, like PEPSSI (Pluto Energetic Particle Spectrometer <keyword id="41551" type="ENTERTAINMENT" weightage="100" keywordseo="science">Science</keyword> Investigation) and REX (Radio Science Experiment).</p><p>The two instruments without an acronym to their name are Ralph and Alice. Ralph will help scientists study the geology and composition of Pluto's surface while while Alice studies Pluto's atmosphere.</p><p>Ralph and Alice are <a href="http://pluto.jhuapl.edu/Mission/Spacecraft/Payload.php">named for the two main characters characters</a> in the '50 television series "The Honeymooners."</p><p><strong>8. All of the instruments on New Horizons run on very little energy, especially the Ralph camera.</strong></p><p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table full"><div><div class="image on-image"></div><p></p></div></div>Despite being built over 10 years ago, New Horizons' Ralph camera is one of the <a href="http://www.wired.com/2015/07/camera-adding-color-pluto-pics-bigger-plans/">most sophisticated</a> cameras ever made. It weighs about 22.7 pounds and runs on the same amount of energy as a small desk lamp!</p><p>When the times comes for the spacecraft to fly by Pluto, this powerful instrument will resolve features on Pluto's surface as small as <a href="http://spacenews.com/new-horizons-about-to-bring-an-unknown-world-into-sharp-focus/">200-feet across</a>, or about the size of an American football field!</p><p><strong>9. A tiny chunk of debris could destroy the spacecraft.</strong></p><p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table full"><div><div class="image on-image"></div><p></p></div></div>Right now, New Horizons is barreling through space at about 31,000 miles per hour. So if it hits a chunk of ice or dust, the spacecraft could <a href="http://www.wired.com/2015/07/new-horizons-finest-moment-hour-destruction/">potentially be destroyed</a> before it has a chance to send data back to mission control.</p><p>"Even tiny particles the size of a grain of rice can be lethal to the New Horizons spacecraft because we are traveling so fast," Alan Stern, New Horizons principle investigator, <a href="http://thespacereporter.com/2015/04/debris-still-a-threat-as-new-horizons-approaches-pluto/" target="_parent">told The Space Reporter</a>.</p><p><strong>10. The mission won't stop at Pluto if astronomers get their way.</strong></p><p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table full"><div><div class="image on-image"></div><p></p></div></div></p><p>If all goes well with the Pluto flyby and New Horizons has enough fuel left over, then it will plow on past Pluto and explore at least one other nearby object in a region of the solar system beyond any planets called the Kuiper belt.</p><p>The belt sits right on the edge of our solar system and is 20 times wider than the asteroid belt that separates Mars and Jupiter. Astronomers think it could hold chunks of celestial objects left over from our solar system's formation.</p><p><strong>11. It's been 26 years since we had our last "first look" at a planet.</strong></p><p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table full"><div><div class="image on-image"></div><p></p></div></div>The last time a moment like this happened was in 1989 when Voyager flew past Neptune. We haven't explored a new world since then. This flyby is history in the making.</p>    <div class="margin-top">        <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/neil-degrasse-tyson-ceres-2015-6">Neil deGrasse Tyson reveals the most underrated planet (and it's not Pluto)</a></h3>        <div>            <div>        <div class="ooyala-video-player" data-video-autoplay="false" data-video-id="JvdXd2dTr6d980oOREMzVyK5cM7LHq5p" data-player-variable="ooyalapopvideo" id="ooyalaplayer_popvideo" style="width:1280px;height:720px"></div>        </div>        </div>            </div>

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