'Hundreds of worlds' in Milky Way



By Helen Briggs

Science reporter, BBC News, Boston




Scientists say there may be many more worlds in our solar system

Rocky planets, possibly with conditions suitable for life, may be more common than previously thought in our galaxy, a study has found.

New evidence suggests more than half the Sun-like stars in the Milky Way could have similar planetary systems.

There may also be hundreds of undiscovered worlds in outer parts of our Solar System, astronomers believe.

Future studies of such worlds will radically alter our understanding of how planets are formed, they say.

New findings about planets were presented at the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) in Boston.

Nasa telescope

Michael Meyer, an astronomer from the University of Arizona, said he believes Earth-like planets are probably very common around Sun-like stars.
I expect that we will find a very large number of planets


Alan Stern
Nasa


"Our observations suggest that between 20% and 60% of Sun-like stars have evidence for the formation of rocky planets not unlike the processes we think led to planet Earth," he said.

"That is very exciting."

Mr Meyer's team used the US space agency's Spitzer space telescope to look at groups of stars with masses similar to the Sun.

They detected discs of cosmic dust around stars in some of the youngest groups surveyed.

The dust is believed to be a by-product of rocky debris colliding and merging to form planets.

Nasa's Kepler mission to search for Earth-sized and smaller planets, due to be launched next year, is expected to reveal more clues about these distant undiscovered worlds.

Frozen worlds

Some astronomers believe there may be hundreds of small rocky bodies in the outer edges of our own Solar System, and perhaps even a handful of frozen Earth-sized worlds.

We have to find the right mass planet and it has to be at the right distance from the star


Debra Fischer
San Francisco State University


Speaking at the AAAS, Nasa's Alan Stern said he believes we have found only the tip of the iceberg in terms of planets within our own Solar System.

More than a thousand objects had already been discovered in the Kuiper belt alone, he said, many rivalling the planet Pluto in size.

"Our old view, that the Solar System had nine planets will be supplanted by a view that there are hundreds if not thousands of planets in our Solar System," he told BBC News.

He believes many of these planets will be icy, some will be rocky, and there may even be objects the same mass as Earth.

"It could be that there are objects of Earth mass in the oort cloud (a cloud surrounding our planetary system) but they would be frozen at these distances," Mr Stern added.

"They would look like a frozen Earth."

Goldilocks zone

Excitement about finding other Earth-like planets is driven by the idea that some might contain life or perhaps, centuries from now, allow human colonies to be set up on them.

The key to this search, said Debra Fischer of San Francisco State University, California, was the Goldilocks zone.

This refers to an area of space in which a planet is just the right distance from its parent star so that its surface is not-too-hot or not-too-cold to support liquid water.

"To my mind there are two things we have to go after; we have to find the right mass planet and it has to be at the right distance from the star," she said.

The AAAS meeting concludes on Monday.

I've always thought that in the entire universe, it is awfully arrogant of us earthlings to think we are the only planet anywhere to have life.

my thoughts too Adri NO way we could be the ONLY ones out there! This is awesome I hope to see some other life in my time!

-RMS Carpathia-

String theroy!

come to the village in nyc you will see plenty of alien life there

Wow... was thinking the same thing about the small, rural town in Ohio we just moved from...

Agreed
Although it'd be awesome if we were able to detect "M class planets" in our galaxy
(M class planets being the startrek term for planets suitable for humanoid life forms)
hehe

very cool adam didnt know that and i watch startrek sometimes

Completely agree.

I had a really freaky experience when I was younger, there's no way in hell after that I could think we are the only one's in the universe. I haven't told anyone about it for years because everyone thinks I'm off my rocker And just to clarify, no I wasn't abducted LOL

I have a bunch of pilots in my family, both military and commercial. Some of them I woouldn't quite believe, but my grandfather was one too. Him, I believe. He had some very interesting stories about things he saw when he was flying. So yeah, I believe in UFOs heh.