These 24 planets may be more ‘habitable’ than Earth, astronomers say

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https://nypost.com/2020/10/05/astronomers-discover-24-planets-more-habitable-than-earth/

These 24 planets may be more ‘habitable’ than Earth, astronomers say
By Zachary KussinOctober 5, 2020 | 11:58am | Updated
These 24 planets may be more ‘habitable’ than Earth, astronomers say

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Who needs to flee to Canada when there are 24 planets more suitable for 
life than planet Earth?

Astronomers have discovered two dozen planets, all more than 100 
light-years away, that are perfectly capable of sustaining human life as 
2020 continues to rear its ugly head in our end of space.

These “super-habitable” worlds are older, bigger, warmer and have more 
moisture than Earth, according to the study, led by Washington State 
University geobiologist Dirk Schulze-Makuch and published in the journal 
Astrobiology.

There’s no confirmation that life exists on these planets, but the study 
used those characteristics to search for super-habitable potentials 
across 4,500 exoplanets, simply defined as planets that orbit stars 
outside of our own solar system.

These faraway worlds could become subjects of future study, thanks to 
upcoming advanced telescopes, including NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope.

“With the next space telescopes coming up, we will get more information, 
so it is important to select some targets,” said Schulze-Makuch in a 
statement. “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.”

Enlarge Image
A depiction of the first validated Earth-size planet to orbit a distant 
star in the habitable zone identified by NASA’s Kepler Space 
Telescope.NASA/JPL-Caltech/T. Pyle

Researchers identified these planets based on a list of specific 
criteria. Among them, the planets’ presence in the host star’s 
“goldilocks zone,” or the habitable orbit around a star where liquid 
water can exist thanks to the right temperature. Not only does the right 
surface temperature matter for the existence of water, but a surface 
temperature about 41 degrees warmer than that of Earth would be more 
suitable for life, thanks to the combination of higher temperatures and 
the presence of moisture.

Also, when it comes to planets, bigger is better. A planet that’s even 
10% larger than Earth means it has more habitable land. Plus, one that 
has even 1.5 times our planet’s mass means it can keep its interior 
heating longer through radioactive decay, and would also have even 
stronger gravity to sustain an atmosphere (and hold down moisture) for a 
longer period of time.

None of the 24 spheres met every single criteria for super-habitable 
planets, but one of them met three, automatically making it more 
comfortable than planet Earth — with ostensibly much less drama. That 
planet, nicknamed KOI 5715.01, is 5.5 billion years old and 1.8 times 
larger than Earth. Its average temperature is a crisp 53.3 degrees and 
it’s just 2,964 light-years away from us.

FILED UNDER ALIENS ,  EARTH ,  SPACE ,  10/5/20