The 24 Planets that may be More Habitable than Earth

Astronomers identify 24 planets near Earth that may be even more friendly to life than our home world.

An ideal planet for life might be slightly larger, older, warmer, and wetter than Earth — and it might look strangely familiar. Image credit: The Cosmic Companion / Created in Universe Sandbox.

Washington State University astronomers identified 24 planets around other suns which may be even more habitable than our own world. Some of these systems also contain stars — potentially — even friendlier to life than our Sun.

These superhabitable systems are generally warmer, wetter, larger and older than Earth. Stars with lifespans longer than the Sun would allow solar systems more time to develop life, researchers speculate. By cataloging superhabitable worlds, astronomers will know where to look in the search for extraterrestrial life.

“We have to focus on certain planets that have the most promising conditions for complex life. However, we have to be careful to not get stuck looking for a second Earth because there could be planets that might be more suitable for life than ours,” said Dirk Schulze-Makuch, a geobiologist at Washington State University.

Where to Look? Where to Look?

An artist’s concept of the first terrestrial planet found by the Kepler observatory orbiting in the habitable zone around its star, where temperatures are “just right” for liquid water — and perhaps, life — to form. Image credit: NASA Ames/SETI Institute/JPL-Caltech

Researchers examined data from terrestrial exoplanets orbiting in the habitable…