Extraterrestrial

Scientists identify the 45 most Earth-like extrasolar worlds ever found

By T.K. Randall
March 21, 2026 ·  1 comment

Image: Illustration of TRAPPIST-1 b
Credit: NASA, ESA, CSA, J. Olmsted (STScI), T. P. Greene (NASA Ames), T. Bell (BAERI), E. Ducrot (CEA), P. Lagage (CEA) / CC BY 4.0 (adapted) Given that we still only know of one planet in the entire universe with life (our own), it's difficult to build up a full picture of what conditions might give rise to life on other worlds.

That said, by looking at the Earth, it is possible to come up with a list of the specific properties of an extrasolar world most likely to give rise to extraterrestrial life.

For example, being located in a parent star's habitable zone (where the temperature is sufficient to allow liquid water to exist on the surface) makes a planet far more likely to be habitable.

Now, in a new study, scientists have built up a catalogue of the most Earth-like worlds in the known universe - a selection of 45 prime candidates picked out from around 6,000 known extrasolar worlds.

Some of these may be familiar - such as Proxima Centauri b - which orbits our closest neighbor.

Among the other most promising candidates are several of the worlds in the TRAPPIST-1 system which is situated approximately 40 light-years away from the Earth."While it's hard to say what makes something more likely to have life, identifying where to look is the first key step," said study author Gillis Lowry.

"So the goal of our project was to say 'here are the best targets for observation'."

So how will we know if there really is life on any of these worlds ?

One way is to directly observe their atmospheres, something that can be achieved (depending on the planet) through next-generation telescopes such as the James Webb Space Telescope or the upcoming Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope.

If we find one with a near-identical atmosphere to our own, if would be a major sign that we might have finally discovered the first ever known inhabited alien world.

That said, this alone wouldn't be enough to know for certain that there really was life there.

Unfortunately, we may never be completely sure without actually visiting the planet ourselves.

Source: Mail Online | Comments (1)

Tags: Extrasolar, Planet, Alien