Seven planets in Milky Way could be habitable, scientists say by PIRATENEWS

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Seven planets in Milky Way could be habitable, scientists say

POSTED BY: PIRATENEWS
UPDATED: Wednesday, December 12, 2012 13:26
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Wednesday, December 12, 2012 1:26 PM

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A catalogue aiming to list all the known planets in the galaxy that could be habitable to life featured only two when it was launched a year ago.

But as it celebrated its first birthday, scientists said there were now five more planets on the list, exceeding all expectations.

Many more planets that could harbour life are also expected to join the online database, called the Habitable Exoplanets Catalog, they said.

Scientists know of nearly 900 confirmed exoplanets, or extrasolar planets, with over 2,500 still awaiting confirmation. But only a few of those might be good candidates for life as we know it.

Lead researcher Abel Mendez said the team had expected to add only one or two more planets to the list in its first year.

Explaining the aim of the project, Mr Mendez, director of the University of Puerto Rico at Arecibo's Planetary Habitability Laboratory, told SPACE.com: "The main purpose is for research, but then I realized that also for the public it was very important."

"There are many press releases announcing discoveries of habitable planets ... and that is confusing. So having a catalogue that everyone can check what is available right now is useful."

Mr Mendez's team evaluates the potential for life on a planet using three measurements: the variability of energy from the host star that the planet receives, the mass of the planet and the planet's size.

Bigger gas giants orbiting variable stars are less likely to host life than smaller, rocky planets near stable stars.

The researcher said scientists were getting better at finding exoplanets and the pace of discovery was growing.

But he warned that the information on the planets was only preliminary.

The online planet database attracts between 10,000 and 30,000 views each month.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/science/space/9735155/Seven-planets-in-gala
xy-could-be-habitable-scientists-say.html

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