Earth may be the only planet in the universe that we know to support life. However, Scientists have discovered that there are at least 24 super-habitable planets that may support life better than the Earth. A team of researchers led by scientist Dirk Schulze-Makuch of Washington State University conducted the research and published it in the journal Astrobiology.

According to the team, researchers have rummaged for the planets which are older, slightly warmer, and wetter than the Earth.

According to a report by Indian Express, scientists went through observing over 4,500 exoplanets and were able to find out 24 planets based on certain parameters that gave evidence of a conducive environment for life-supporting conditions although no life has yet been confirmed on those planets.
Habitable-Zone-Exoplanet-Exploration-NASADue to the ‘just right’ conditions there, the habitable zone is often called the Goldilocks Zone. Credit: NASA Exoplanet Exploration

Meanwhile, these planets are 100 light-years away from the Earth located outside the Solar System.

“It’s sometimes difficult to convey this principle of super habitable planets because we think we have the best planet,” study lead author Dirk Schulze-Makuch, a geobiologist at Washington State University, said in a press release.

“We have a great number of complex and diverse lifeforms and many that can survive in extreme environments. It is good to have adaptable life, but that doesn’t mean that we have the best of everything.”

Schulze-Makuch, along with co-authors René Heller of the Max Planck Institute for Solar System Research and Edward Guinan of Villanova University, gave careful consideration to what would make a planet super-habitable. During their search, they looked for ones that would be slightly larger and more massive than Earth, slightly warmer than Earth, and orbiting a cool, quiet K-type star that was between 5-8 billion years old.

These stars are classified into G-Stars which have a lifespan less than that of 10 billion years and K-stars which are comparatively cooler, dwarf stars with a lifespan of 20 to 70 billion years.

One thing that the researchers suggest could make a planet more habitable would be its sun. The usual assumption is that an orbit around a G-type star like the Sun would be the best place to find a habitable planet.

However, such stars only have a lifespan of about eight to 10 billion years, and it took four billion for anything other than the simplest of life to evolve on the Earth. A K-type dwarf star, on the other hand, would be cooler and less massive than the Sun, but it would have a lifespan of up to 70 billion years – allowing for a much longer time for life to emerge and develop.

Another pair of factors would be size and mass. Part of the reason the Earth is habitable is that it’s large enough to be geologically active, giving it a protective magnetic field, and has enough gravity to retain an atmosphere.

According to the team, if a planet was 10 percent larger, it would have more surface area to live on. If it was 1.5 times as massive as the Earth, its interior would retain more heat from radioactive decay, would remain active longer, and hold onto its atmosphere for a longer time.

In addition, if a world was 5° C (8° F) warmer than the Earth and had more water, it would enjoy the biodiversity of rainforests over much of the planet.

Additionally, some super-habitability factors set out in the study are ones we simply can’t know about any of the exoplanets found so far. These include having an Earth-like atmosphere with a bit higher oxygen content and more abundant water vapor and having a good distribution of land and ocean, with lots of shallow water areas and island chains.

Additionally, a system of plate tectonics in place would help, and having a strong protective magnetic field is essential. The presence of a large moon at a moderate distance would also stabilize the planet’s tilt and climate.

The team says that none of the 24 planets found have all of these characteristics, but one has four of the critical factors. At any rate, all 24 could be the focus of later telescopic studies.

These researchers have also claimed that out of 24 super habitable planets, only one planet has depicted various life-supporting evidence while Scientist Dirk Schulze-Makuch affirmed that such a discovery would help in accentuating future observation through NASA’s James Web Telescope, LUVIOR Space telescope, and PLATO space telescope.