Our Milky Way galaxy, and the billions of others beyond, is chock-a-block with extra-solar planets, scientists have learned in recent decades. But whether any of them can support life is a far more complex and contentious issue.
Many researchers hold that potentially "habitable" planets have to be rocky and within a limited zone in relation to their central sun—conditions that allow for the continuing presence of liquid water on their surfaces. (Related: "Most Earthlike Planets Found Yet: A 'Breakthrough.'")
But in a provocative review article published this week in the journal Science, theoretical physicist Sara Seager of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology lays out a case for habitability being potentially more common than generally predicted.
As a pioneer in the study of exoplanet atmospheres, she paints a different picture of what kinds of planets might support life.
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