US EditionAstronomers Narrow Search for Alien Life to 45 Rocky Worlds
A Cornell-led team used Gaia and NASA data to list 45 rocky exoplanets in habitable zones, prioritizing targets for telescopes like JWST and the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope.
- On March 19, 2026, a Monthly Notices paper listed 45 rocky worlds in habitable zones, with 24 in a narrower 3D zone for habitability limits.
- Using ESA's Gaia and NASA's Exoplanet Archive the team led by Professor Lisa Kaltenegger, including Abigail Bohl, Gillis Lowry, and Lucas Lawrence, identified candidate planets in habitable zones.
- Highlighting transiting targets the authors named K2-239 d, TOI-700e, and K2-3d as inner-edge habitability tests and flagged Wolf 1061c and GJ 1061c for radial-velocity studies.
- The list will guide observations with James Webb Space Telescope and other observatories, narrowing priorities to improve chances of detecting atmospheres and biosignatures with upcoming facilities.
- Researchers also identified a narrower 3D habitable-zone list of 24 worlds to test habitability theory and observational tests, focusing on eccentric orbits and conservative habitability limits.
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18 Articles
Space breakthrough as astronomers discover 45 'Earth-like' planets in 'habitable zone' - which could harbour life
Scientists have discovered 45 "Earth-like" planets which could potentially harbour life.Researchers at the Carl Sagan Institute at Cornell University have named 45 planets which lie within the habitable zone - a Goldilocks zone where it's not too hot and not too cold.Earth lies in the Sun's habitable zone - where water can exist without boiling or freezing, and life can thrive.Some of the planets named by researchers are only tens of light-years…
Through research and investigation, they analyze the possible role of several celestial bodies. They look for traces of extraterrestrial life where planets could have offered favorable conditions.
The best places to look for alien life: Scientists identify 45 Earth-like worlds to explore for a 'Project Hail Mary'
If we're to find extraterrestrial life in the universe, astronomers have pinpointed the best places to look for it. They have identified just under 50 rocky worlds most likely to be habitable out of the more than 6,000 exoplanets discovered so far.
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