Better than Earth: scientists have found 24 habitable planets - ForumDaily
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Better than Earth: scientists have found 24 habitable planets

Earth is not necessarily the best planet in the universe. Researchers have identified two dozen planets outside our solar system that may have conditions more suitable for life than we have. Some of these stars are perhaps even better in orbit than our Sun. Details of the study told the publication ScienceDaily.

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A study by Washington State University scientist Dirk Schulze-Makuch recently published in the journal Astrobiology details the characteristics of potential "super-habitable" planets, including those that are older, slightly larger, slightly warmer, and possibly wetter than Earth. Life could also evolve more easily on planets that revolve around slower-changing stars with longer lifespans than our Sun.

All 24 top contenders for the super-habitable planet title are over 100 light-years away. But Schulze-Makuch said the study could help focus future observing efforts, such as from NASA's James Webb Space Telescope, LUVIOR Space Observatory and the European Space Agency's PLATO space.

“With the next generation of space telescopes, we will get more information, so it is important to select some targets,” explained Schulze-Makuch, who is also a professor Technical University in Berlin. “We need to focus on certain planets that have the most promising conditions for complex life.” However, we should be careful not to get stuck in the search for a second Earth, because there may be planets more suitable for life than ours.”

For the research, Schulze-Makuch, a geobiologist specializing in planetary habitability, teamed up with astronomers Rene Heller of the Institute for Solar System Research. Max Planck and Edward Guinan of Villanova University to define criteria for super-habitability and search for good candidates among 4500 known exoplanets outside our solar system. Habitability does not mean that these planets definitely have life, it is simply conditions conducive to life.

The researchers selected planetary stellar systems with probable terrestrial planets orbiting within the habitable zone of the parent star from the archive of exoplanets of interest.

Although the Sun is the center of our solar system, it has a relatively short lifespan of less than 10 billion years. And it took almost 4 billion years for any form of complex life to appear on Earth. Many stars similar to our Sun, called G stars, ran out of fuel before complex life could arise.

On the subject: Scientists have found signs of life on Venus: who can inhabit the planet

In addition to studying systems with cooler G stars, the researchers also looked at systems with K dwarf stars, which are somewhat cooler, less massive, and less bright than our Sun. K stars have the advantage of a lifespan of 20 to 70 billion years. This would give life more time to evolve to the complexity that is currently observed on Earth. However, to be habitable, the planets do not have to be very old, as they exhaust their geothermal heat with age and almost lose their protective geomagnetic field. The earth is about 4,5 billion years old, but researchers argue that the optimal place for life is on a planet that is between 5 and 8 billion years old.

Size and weight also matter. A planet that is 10% larger than Earth should have a more habitable environment. A planet that is about 1,5 times the mass of the Earth can be expected to maintain internal heating due to radioactive decay for longer, and will also have stronger gravity to hold the atmosphere for a longer period of time.

Water is the key to life, and the authors argue that its presence in large quantities will also affect the habitability of the planet, especially in the form of moisture, clouds and humidity. Slightly higher temperatures than on Earth, along with additional humidity, are also more favorable for the development of life.

Among 24 candidates for a superinhabited planet, none of them meets all the criteria for superinhabited planets, but one has four critical characteristics, which, quite possibly, makes it much more comfortable for life than our home planet.

“Sometimes it’s hard to convey this principle of superhabitable planets, because we think we have the best planet,” Schulze-Makuch said. “We have many complex and diverse life forms, many of which can survive in extreme conditions. But adapting well to life does not mean having the best.”

Read also on ForumDaily:

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Scientists have found signs of life on Venus: who can inhabit the planet

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