New Study Claims Our Galaxy Has Over 100 Billion Planets
The odds of other planets hosting intelligent life just grew exponentially, as a new study shows that there may be up to 100 billion planets in our galaxy.
That means, contrary to previous belief, that there is approximately one planet for every star seen in the night sky.
Researchers are starting to believe that star systems with planets are actually more common throughout our galaxy than previously thought.
John Johnson, assistant professor of planetary astronomy at the California Institute of Technology (Caltech), called the estimate “mind boggling.”
“There’s at least 100 billion planets in the galaxy — just our galaxy,” he said.
Jonathan Swift, a postdoc student at Caltech and lead author of the paper due for publication in Astrophysical Journal, added: “It’s a staggering number, if you think about it. Basically there’s one of these planets per star.”
With all of the discoveries made in 2012 as far as space is concerned, one can only imagine what we’ll learn this year!
Jordan Shepherd | Elite.
