A new study using the NASA’s Kepler satellite has shown astronomers that our Milky Way Galaxy could be dwelling billions of planet orbiting their host stars in an inhabitable region where there is the likelihood of life and liquid water. They have found almost 1,000 planets around the stars in the Milky Way along with about 3,000 potential planets.
Researchers from the Australian National University and the Niels Bohr Institute in Copenhagen have analyzed and calculated the probability for the number of stars in the Milky Way which has the possibility of having planets in the inhabitable zone and they said, “The calculations show that billions of the stars in the Milky Way will have one to three planets in the habitable zone, where there is the potential for liquid water and where life could exist.”
Further calculations were made on the basis of a new version of the Titus-Bode Law that accurately calculated the positioning of Uranus even before its discovery. This law states the ratio which exists between orbital planets in the solar system. So if one knows how long it takes for some planets to orbit the Sun or a star, then the time duration for other planets for orbiting the Sun or a star can also be calculated and thus work out their position in the planetary system.
“We decided to use this method to calculate the potential planetary positions in 151 planetary systems, where the Kepler satellite had found between 3 and 6 planets,” said Steffen Jacobsen, of the Niels Bohr Institute.
The researchers have evaluated the number of planets in the inhabitable zone on the basis of the extra planets which were included to the 151 planetary systems as per the Titus-Bode Law. They have forecasted a total of 228 planets in the 151 planetary systems and 1 to 3 planets in the habitable zone of each. From these 151 planetary systems, the scientists have further verified that 31 planetary systems where planets in the inhabitable zone were already found, or where just one more planet was necessary to meet the requirements.
“In these 31 planetary systems that were close to the habitable zone, our calculations showed that there was an average of two planets in the habitable zone,” said Jacobsen.
“According to the statistics and the indications we have, a good share of the planets in the habitable zone will be solid planets where there might be liquid water and where life could exist,” Jacobsen added.
The researchers conclude that if the calculations are taken further out into space, then that means that in our Milky Way there is the possibility of billions of stars with planets in the habitable zone where there is liquid water and the chance of life existing.
