There may be about 300 million habitable planets in the Milky Way

Illustration of Kepler-186f, the first Earth-sized planet validated to orbit a distant star in the habitable zone. (Photo: NASA Ames / JPL-Caltech / T. Pyle)

Humans have long wondered if there were other planets like Earth where life could flourish. This old question has begun to re-emerge as more and more exoplanets have been discovered in recent years. Thanks to a new study, we have an idea of ​​how many planets could support life, and the number could shock you.

Using data from the now retired Kepler Space Telescope, a group of researchers estimated there are about 300 million habitable planets in the Milky Way alone. And many may also be in our neighborhood. So what makes a planet habitable in the eyes of astronomers? First, the planet must be rocky and capable of supporting liquid water on the surface. And secondly, it must have a nearby star that has the correct temperature. To be precise, these stars must have a similar temperature to that of the Sun, give or take 1,500 degrees Fahrenheit.

Interestingly, some relatively close exoplanets meet the criteria. In fact, at least four are within 30 light years of our Sun, with the closest being only 20 light years away. Of course, nothing is certain, but this research helps us understand which exoplanets have the potential to have the right ingredients to support life. The findings come after the researchers closely examined four years of research from the Kepler Space Telescope.

Illustration of the possible appearance of the planet Kepler-452b, the first Earth-sized world found in the habitable zone of a star similar to our Sun. (Photo: NASA Ames / JPL-Caltech / T. Pyle)

“Kepler already told us there were billions of planets, but we now know that a good portion of those planets could be rocky and habitable,” says lead author Steve Bryson, a researcher at NASA’s Ames Research Center in Silicon Valley of California. “Although this achievement is far from being a final value and water on a planet’s surface is only one of many factors that support life, it is extremely exciting that we have calculated that these worlds are so common with such high safety and security. precision.”

Until it ran out of fuel and was retired in 2018, the Kepler Space Telescope was on a mission to find out how many habitable planets exist in our galaxy. For this study, the information gathered was combined with data from the European Space Agency’s Gaia mission. The Gaia mission has provided important information on how much energy falls on a planet from its host star, opening up a world of possibilities. In fact, taking into account the atmosphere of these planets, they found that about half of the Sun-like stars have rocky planets capable of hosting liquid water on their surfaces.

Before we start thinking that we will soon be flying to these exoplanets, more work needs to be done to see if the researchers’ predictions are correct. However, it’s a big step forward for everyone involved in trying to unravel the mysteries of the universe. “For me, this result is an example of what we were able to discover with just that little glimpse beyond our solar system,” said Bryson. “What we see is that our galaxy is fascinating, with fascinating worlds and some that may not be too different from ours.”

h / t: [Science Alert]

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