Astronomers Have Discovered Eight Potentially Habitable Planets

Credit: David A. Aguilar (CfA)

Astronomers have announced that they have discovered eight more planets that likely exist in temperature ranges where life could exist.

The astronomers began their research path by examining candidates for planets that had been identified by NASAs Kepler mission. The candidates were analyzed using a supercomputer running algorithms at NASAs Ames facility.

After exploring the statistical likelihood of the planets existence, the team followed up with months of observations using a variety of different methods. The planets are distant enough, however, that their habitabiliy is still only a likelihood, not a certainty.

We dont know for sure whether any of the planets in our sample are truly habitable, researcher David Kipping said in a statement. All we can say is that theyre promising candidates.

The two most potentially Earth-like planets of the group of eight are Kepler-438b and Kepler-442b, both of which circle red dwarf stars are are respectively 70% and 97% likely to be in the habitable temperature zones of their respective stars. However, it should be noted that there are serious issues regarding the potential habitability of planets circling red dwarf stars, so confirmation will require significantly more study.

In addition to nearly doubling the potential number of habitable planets, this latest discovery also helps astronomers in a different milestone. NASA announced this week that the Kepler mission has helped astronomers verify the discovery of over 1,000 planets outside of our solar system. The mission has also uncovered over 4,000 planetary candidates.

Each result from the planet-hunting Kepler missions treasure trove of data takes us another step closer to answering the question of whether we are alone in the Universe, NASA associate administrator John Grunsfeld said in a press release. The Kepler team and its science community continue to produce impressive results with the data from this venerable explorer.

The researchers findings will be published in The Astrophysical Journal.

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Astronomers Have Discovered Eight Potentially Habitable Planets