Scientists Identify 24 Potentially ‘Superhabitable’ Exoplanets

A team of geobiologists and astronomers from the United States and Germany has identified 24 extrasolar planets that may have conditions more suitable for life than Earth.

Those alien worlds are older, a little larger, slightly warmer and possibly wetter than our own planet.

“The 24 top contenders for superhabitable planets are all more than 100 light-years away, but our study could help focus future observation efforts, such as from NASA’s James Web Space Telescope, NASA’s LUVIOR (Large UV/Optical/IR Surveyor) space observatory and ESA’s PLATO (PLAnetary Transits and Oscillations of stars) space telescope,” said Professor Dirk Schulze-Makuch, a geobiologist at Washington State University and the Technical University in Berlin.

“With the next space telescopes coming up, we will get more information, so it is important to select some targets.”

“We have to focus on certain planets that have the most promising conditions for complex life. However, we have to be careful to not get stuck looking for a second Earth because there could be planets that might be more suitable for life than ours.”

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Image credit: Sci-News.com.

An artist’s conception of the HR 858 planetary system.

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Potentially 'habitable', earth-like planet discovered by NASA

The TESS, or transit exoplanet survey satellite, was able to locate more than 1000 exoplanets using light waves.