An article published in one of the latest issues of the scientific journal International Journal of Astrobiology says that, according to scientists, given all the circumstances, humanity will most likely be able to detect extraterrestrial life next to cosmic bodies, which astronomers used to call "red dwarfs ".
In this article, scientists explain that "red dwarfs" very densely "inhabit" the universe. It is noted that about 70 percent of the stars can be attributed to the class "red dwarf". These cosmic bodies, which some scientists call "class M" dwarf stars, are usually stars that are 10 to 20 percent the size of our Sun.
By the way, here it should be noted that these stars cannot be called bright. In fact, they can be up to 50 times fainter than our own solar system star.
Scientists point out that given the presence of a huge number of "red dwarfs" in the universe, then they are most likely the most suitable candidates for the search for extraterrestrial life around them. The fact that planets orbiting around them are very often found around stars of this type is added to the collection of support for this opinion.
Trying to find out how likely it is that "M-class" dwarf stars are designed to support life, Brad Hansen, an astrophysicist at the University of California at Los Angeles (USA), tried to collect all the known facts about them, and then collected and analyzed several created on the basis of these data computer models.
According to the portal Phys.org, the created computer models allowed the scientist to come to a conclusion as to what is the probability of the formation of low-mass planets around red dwarf stars, and where exactly these planets could be located.
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Hansen found that near those "M-class" stars whose mass is about 50 percent less than the mass of our Sun and whose protoplanetary disks contain one-sixth of the gas and dust compared to the mass of the Earth, can, on average, support 4-6 planets. One or two of these planets, most likely, will be located inside the "habitable zone" of the star, which means that they can contain huge reserves of water (according to some calculations of computer models - up to 25 times more volume than on Earth), and, hence life can be found on them.
“We have been able to show that virtually every planetary system, in whatever manner it was formed, contains at least one planet located in the“habitable zone”of its star. And if there was water on these planets, then living organisms could appear in it”.
“The results of our research support the opinion that the majority of habitable planets are most likely located near dwarf stars of the“M”class, - says the scientist in the journal.
"The high density of a cluster of potentially habitable planets increases the chances that one of them will eventually become habitable," adds the astrophysicist.
And yet, conclusions about where extraterrestrial life may actually be located is not the same as the actual discovery of extraterrestrial life itself. Nevertheless, the scientific community is beginning to speak with increasing confidence that this event is only a matter of time.