Millions of planets are habitable.. An amazing study that sparks widespread controversy
A recent study has come up with exciting results about the presence of habitable planets in the Milky Way, where the solar system is located.
According to that study, the most abundant "M stars" in this galaxy are smaller and redder than the Sun.
Scientists believe that many of them can host life, which means that there are hundreds of millions of habitable planets in the Milky Way alone.
This study was conducted using recent data collected by the planet-hunting Kepler mission, which was analyzed by astronomers at the University of Florida.
The data has been updated with new information from the Gaia satellite, which measures the motions of stars with great precision.
Using this data, the extent of the planets' trajectory around the stars was determined, and the deviations in their orbits were measured.
It turns out that planets around "red dwarfs" with large deviations tend to have very elongated elliptical orbits, which leads to a process called "tidal heating", which leads to the loss of water and opportunities for life to develop on the planet's surface.
However, the planets that orbit red dwarfs far away, they are very cold and lack the warmth necessary for life.
Therefore, exoplanets around red dwarfs must be close to their stars, in order to be able to obtain sufficient heat for life. However, the planet's orbit must be completely circular, so as not to experience tidal heating surges.
Although a third of the planets around red dwarfs are unfit for life due to the heat of their host stars, two-thirds of the planets discovered are in the "life zone," which is a zone where liquid water and potential life can be found.
Overall, this study presents a stunning picture of the potential planets that could exist in the Milky Way, and suggests that habitable planets may be much more common than we previously thought. However, this study does not necessarily mean that there is life on these planets, but rather indicates that they have the right conditions for life.
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