Subj : Study Suggests There Are 300 Million
To : All
From : Charles Pierson
Date : Wed Nov 11 2020 09:40 am
Forwarding message from ASTRONET
Originally by: Charles Pierson, 2:240/1120.976
Original date: 11/11/20 8:13 AM
Subject: Study Suggests There Are 300 Million
***
Hello, All.
Study Suggests There Are 300 Million Potentially Habitable Worlds in Our Galaxy
November 9, 2020
By Tim Binnall
An exhaustive new study from NASA has concluded that there could be a whopping
300 million habitable worlds in the Milky Way galaxy. The intriguing
determination reportedly came by way of a two-year-long project in which 44
astronomers studied data collected by the Kepler Telescope. Seen as the
culmination of that exoplanet-hunting spacecraft's work, one of the scientists
on the team marveled to the New York Times that "this is the science result
we've all been waiting for" and "the reason that Kepler was selected for flight
in December 2001."
Specifically, the team combed through the voluminous Kepler data and found that
"half the stars similar in temperature to our Sun could have a rocky planet
capable of supporting liquid water on its surface." Taking into account
insights gleaned from the European Space Agency's Gaia mission, which looked at
the type of energy emitted from these stars and how it is absorbed by the
planets that orbit them, they ultimately came to the figure of 300 million
potentially habitable exoplanets in our galaxy based on "the most conservative
estimate that 7% of Sun-like stars host such worlds." Considering that is a
cautious guess, scientists say, the true number of such exoplanets could be
significantly higher.
While that enormous number should give optimism to those hoping to eventually
find some kind of intelligent life out there in space, some researchers
cautioned that one might wish to temper their expectations. That's because
scientists have yet to identify an exoplanet which is the same size as Earth
and possesses a matching orbit around a Sun-like star, which are, as of yet,
the only conditions known to produce life. Be that as it may, it stands to
reason that there ought to be at least one such world among the 300 million
theoretically habitable exoplanets in our galaxy. How long it may take us to
find it, of course, remains to be seen.
...
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