Science: "50 Planets" Cold Have Life

Society | April 2, 2004, Friday // 00:00

Astronomers say there could be about 50 Earth-like planets with the potential to harbour life orbiting in other solar systems.

They say that space telescopes will be capable of observing these planets and investigating them to see if they support life in about 15 years' time. Astronomers have recently discovered more than 100 planets orbiting stars other than our Sun. But they are all giant planets like Jupiter that cannot support life.

The planets would exist in what is sometimes referred to as the "Goldilocks" zone, a region set back from the parent star where it is neither too hot for liquid water, nor too cold.

Nine of the known exoplanetary systems have been investigated in detail using this technique, enabling the team to derive the basic rules that determine the habitability of the remaining 90 or so systems.

At the moment, it is just a theory, but by the middle of the next decade, we should have the technology to search directly for Earth-like planets.

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