There Are 17 Billion Earth-Size Alien Planets in Milky Way

The Milky Way hosts at least 17 billion Earth-size alien planets, and probably many more, a new study reveals.

Astronomers have determined that about 17% of stars in our galaxy harbor a roughly Earth-size exoplanet in a close orbit. Since there are 100 billion or so stars in the Milky Way, that works out to a minimum of 17 billion small, rocky alien worlds, or an Earth-size planet around one of every six stars.

And there are probably many more such planets orbiting at greater distances from their stars, some of which may even be "alien Earths" capable of supporting life as we know it.

Crunching the Numbers

The research team conducted an analysis of data collected by NASA's plane…
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