Study: Up to 4.5 Billion Planets Like Earth in Milky Way Alone
Feeling lonelier even as it gets more crowded
There are a lot of Earth-like planets wandering around the Milky Way galaxy, according to a study published by a team of Harvard University astronomers.
According to astronomers, Earth-like planets may litter the cosmos, including our own Milky Way galaxy. The report, led by Harvard University graduate student Courtney Dressin, concludes that upwards of 4.5 billion Earth-like planets may reside within our own galaxy, the highest estimate to date. When matched against the number of stars in the galaxy, the number of planets may exceed 17 billion.
Hide Comments (0)
Editor's Note: As of February 29, 2024, commenting privileges on reason.com posts are limited to Reason Plus subscribers. Past commenters are grandfathered in for a temporary period. Subscribe here to preserve your ability to comment. Your Reason Plus subscription also gives you an ad-free version of reason.com, along with full access to the digital edition and archives of Reason magazine. We request that comments be civil and on-topic. We do not moderate or assume any responsibility for comments, which are owned by the readers who post them. Comments do not represent the views of reason.com or Reason Foundation. We reserve the right to delete any comment and ban commenters for any reason at any time. Comments may only be edited within 5 minutes of posting. Report abuses.
Please
to post commentsMute this user?
Ban this user?
Un-ban this user?
Nuke this user?
Un-nuke this user?
Flag this comment?
Un-flag this comment?