Hundreds of Million Habitable Planets in Milky Way Galaxy – Kepler Space Telescope Analysis

NEW YORK – Research just revealed that there are hundreds of millions of planets in the Milky Way Galaxy that are suitable for habitation. This is based on the results of analysis of new data from the Kepler space telescope which reports that the planet has characteristics like Earth.

It is important to know that the Sun is not the only star in this galaxy. There are many other stars that are smaller and redder than the Sun. The distance between the star and the planet determines whether a particular exoplanet is habitable.

Based on the results of the analysis, in fact one-third consisting of hundreds of millions of planets around M dwarfs has the potential to be habitable. Astronomers at the University of Florida are trying to input new information from the European Space Agency’s Gaia satellite to look at the distance and movement of the star.

This is done in order to improve the measurement of exoplanet orbits. They wanted to explain a parameter called eccentricity, which is how far a planet is from its star.

“Distance is really important from the information we missed before that allows us to do this analysis now,” said the study’s lead author, Sheila Sagear, quoted from Live Science, Saturday (3/6/2023).

Planets with large eccentricities that are too close to the star, friction will occur which is called tidal heating. Like the palms that continue to rub together will certainly cause heat.

When the heat is too much, the planet will lose its water and become uninhabitable. As is known, water is one of the most important factors in determining the suitability of a planet for life.

Likewise, if a planet is too far from its star, the surface temperature will automatically be colder. Things like this are also not very suitable for habitation because of the lack of warmth to support life.

In other words, an exoplanet in an M dwarf would have to be close enough to its star to get warm. The results of the latest measurements from researchers, two-thirds of the exoplanets found by the Kepler telescope are unfit for habitation.

They are very close to their parent star. This causes friction between the planets and stars, which generates heat.

(wbs)