3 Earth-like planets orbiting nearby star could have life, water
Our science fiction dreams of Martians may never come true, but three earth-like planets discovered orbiting a nearby star have potential life and water, astronomers announced Monday.
The sizes and temperatures of these worlds are similar to those of Earth and Venus, and hold the best promise yet for the search for life outside the solar system. All three planets may have regions with temperatures that are within a range suitable for sustaining liquid water and life, according to the report published Monday in the British journal Nature.
The three planets orbit around an “ultracool” dwarf star just 40 light-years from Earth, or some 240 trillion miles away. In astronomical terms, that’s pretty close considering our own Milky Way galaxy spans 100,000 light years.
This artist’s rendering shows an imagined view from the surface of the outermost of the three planets. (Photo: M. Kornmesser, ESO)