A new study astronomers say there are billions of stars in Milky Way having up to three life supporting planets around them.
By analysing these planetary systems, researchers from the Australian National University and the Niels Bohr Institute in Copenhagen have calculated the probability for the number of stars in the Milky Way that might have planets in the habitable zone.
The calculations showed that billions of the stars in the Milky Way would have one to three planets in the habitable zone, where there was the potential for liquid water and where life could exist.
The researchers evaluated the number of planets in the habitable zone based on the extra planets that were added to the 151 planetary systems according to the Titius-Bode law. The result was 1-3 planets in the habitable zone for each planetary system.
Out of the 151 planetary systems, they now made an additional check on 31 planetary systems where they had already found planets in the habitable zone or where only a single extra planet was needed to meet the requirements.
The study is published in the scientific journal, Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society.
