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.
23 Articles
23 Articles
“Project Hail Mary” – These 45 Exoplanets Could Be Home to Alien Life, Scientists Say
A small group of distant worlds may hold the clues to life beyond Earth. Astronomers searching for life beyond Earth have narrowed down the most promising places to look. Out of more than 6,000 known exoplanets, researchers have identified just under 50 rocky worlds that are most likely to support life. The findings, published in [...]
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UpstractScientists Narrow Down the Hunt for Aliens to 45 Planets
Welcome back to the Abstract! Here are the studies this week that visited strange new worlds, broke the adorability scale, pigged out, and took in an alien light show.First, scientists sift through thousands of planets to find the best possible sites for life. Then: meet a Cretaceous cutie, check out some python blood, and travel to the biggest moon in the solar system.As always, for more of my work, check out my book First Contact: The Story of…
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…
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