Astrophysicists have estimated how many celestial bodies the size of the Earth can "warm" a star such as the Sun
It is believed that the planets that are in the habitable zone are suitable for life. That is, they are located at such a distance from their star that it is not very hot and not very cold on their surface - where water can exist in liquid form. The solar system's habitable zone covers three planets. At its "hottest" edge - Venus, in the middle of the Earth, further - closer to the "cold" edge, but not the very edge - Mars.
And how many planets could our Sun warm up, providing them with comfortable conditions? This question was answered by Canadian scientists from the Canadian Institute for Theoretical Astrophysics in Toronto. It was reported in a press release posted on the Astrobiology News portal that five planets the size of our Earth would fit in the habitable zone of a sun-like star. This result was provided by computer simulations conducted by Christa Van Laerhoven and colleagues (Alysa Obertas, Daniel Tamayo).
There are only three planets in the solar system in the habitable zone, but there could be five
The relative position of five habitable planets in the solar system could be very diverse - researchers have counted a billion possible variants of stable orbits.
As Christa van Lerhoven believes, the aborigines living on one planet would see the neighboring one as a celestial body with a diameter of about 6 times smaller than that of our Moon.
The abundance of comfortable places increases the likelihood that our world is not the only one inhabited in the universe. After all, there are many stars similar to the Sun even in our Galaxy - the Milky Way. There are 40 to 50 billion of them. Each has a planet. But so far, more than three falling into the habitable zone have not been identified.
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The likelihood of the appearance of life on the planets of the TRAPPIST-1 system is higher than in the solar system
Let me remind you: in the constellation Aquarius, 39 light years from Earth - more than 300 trillion kilometers - a system of seven rocky planets about the size of our Earth was discovered. They orbit the red dwarf 2MASS J23062928-0502285, now known as TRAPPIST-1.
TRAPPIST (The Transiting Planets and Planetesimals Small Telescope) is the name of the newest telescope at the European Southern Observatory in Chile (ESO), which was used to see three of the seven exoplanets for the first time in December 2015. They were announced in May 2016.
Further, astronomers working with NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope, which allows observations in the infrared range, were connected to the research. With its help, 4 more planets were identified. And it was found that three of the seven planets are in the habitable zone.
In honor of the "discoverer" - the TRAPPIST telescope, just designed to study red and brown dwarfs, the star itself and the system of planets in its orbit were named after him.
Now researchers from Harvard University and the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics assure: the probability of the origin of life on the planets of the TRAPPIST-1 system is higher than on Earth. After all, these celestial bodies, being in the habitable zone, are also located very close to each other. As Christa van Lerhoven predicted. This allows organic molecules to be transported from planet to planet. For example, under the impact of meteorites knocked out by the impact of asteroids.
At 39 light years from Earth, there are also three planets in the habitable zone, but very close to each other.
The transfer contributes to the so-called panspermia - "fertilization with life." Moreover, according to scientists, even bacteria could move from planet to planet. Or at least the spores of microorganisms for further evolution. That would increase the biological diversity of creatures on the planets of the system.
Astrobiologists do not exclude that the Earth was once "fertilized" from outside - for example, microorganisms from Mars, to which it is much farther than from one planet of the TRAPPIST-1 system to another. So far, such a sensible hypothesis is overshadowed by only one thing - there is not even a trace of life on Mars itself.
And exoplanets have not disappointed so far.
Read more about the planets in the constellation Aquarius. Space photos convince: life is possible in the TRAPPIST-1 star system.
Vladimir LAGOVSKY