Thanks to a new study based on the analysis of data from the Kepler space telescope, scientists have come to the conclusion that there are up to 300 million potentially habitable planets in our Galaxy alone. Some of them may be relatively close, and some are within 30 light years of our sun.
The scientific work will be published in The Astronomical Journal, the research was conducted jointly by scientists from NASA, the SETI Institute and other organizations around the world.
“This is the first time we've been able to collect reasonably accurate data on potentially habitable planets in our galaxy,” said co-author Jeff Coughlin, exoplanet researcher at the SETI Institute. 'This is the key term in the Drake equation used to estimate the number of civilizations in relation to people. We can say that we have become one step closer in our long journey of figuring out if we are alone in space. '
Drake's Equation is a probabilistic argument that details factors to consider when assessing the potential number of technologically advanced civilizations in a galaxy that might be discovered. The Drake Equation is also often considered a roadmap for astrobiology, and is a textbook for much of the research at the SETI Institute.
To get a reasonable estimate, scientists looked at exoplanets similar in size to Earth, and in type related to rocky planets. They also studied stars similar to the Sun, about the same age, about the same temperature. And of course, the key factor was taken into account – the presence of planets in the habitable zone, the zone where there are all the conditions for the existence of liquid water on the planet.
Previous estimates of the number of potentially habitable exoplanets in our galaxy were largely based on the planet's distance from its star. This new study is also looking at how much light is reaching the planet from its star, which in turn affects the likelihood of how the planet is able to keep liquid water on its surface.
To introduce this factor, the researchers took into account data from the European Space Agency's Gaia mission. This made it possible to understand how much energy the parent star of the planet emits. By synthesizing data from two space telescopes, scientists have obtained the best results to date on the diversity of stars, solar systems and exoplanets in our galaxy.
In the future, additional research will be required to understand the role of the planet's atmosphere in its ability to support liquid water. In this analysis, the researchers used a conservative estimate of the influence of the atmosphere to estimate the appearance of stars like the Sun, with rocky planets that may have liquid water on the surface.
The Kepler mission, which officially ended data collection in 2018, has identified more than 2,800 confirmed exoplanets, with several thousand more candidates awaiting confirmation. At the moment, researchers have identified several hundred planets in the habitable zone of their star. In general, the analysis showed that in our Galaxy there may be up to 300 million potentially habitable planets, but their detailed study will take years.
