There would be 60 billion habitable planets in the Milky Way - TF1

class=”title SZ11 c7″> Artist’s view of a discovered in April 2007 around the red dwarf Gl581, which includes three planets with potentially habitable planetary system. / Credits: ESO

The number of planet could live aliens is more important than what we previously believed. Our galaxy, the Milky Way, hold 60 billion habitable planets. The red dwarf, smaller and less bright than the sun star could indeed accommodate a greater number of habitable planets than expected, according to a new study published in the Astrophysical Journal Letters and recovery by Maxisciences the site.

“Most of the planets in the Milky Way orbiting red dwarf,” says Nicolas Cowan, Northwestern’s Center for Interdisciplinary Exploration and Research in Astrophysics. To make life possible on this type of planet, it is imperative that the water is present on the surface in the liquid state. This means that the planet is neither too close nor too far from its star.

far specialists assumed that at least one habitable planet revolved around each star. But this would have been underestimated, because we would not take sufficient account of the importance of clouds, according to this new study. “The clouds cause both warming and cooling of the Earth,” said one of the authors.

Greenhouse

“The clouds reflect sunlight to cool things and they absorb infrared radiation from the surface to cause a greenhouse effect. This is what helps keep the Earth warm enough to house life. “

This implies that the habitable zone around the red dwarf is larger than previously believed. To confirm the presence and the role of clouds, researchers rely on the James Webb Space Telescope which will be operational in 2018.