Scientists identify 24 ‘superhabitable' planets that may be better for life than Earth

In the latest study researchers have revealed that Earth is not necessarily the best planet in the universe for life. Scientists have found some 24 planets that are 'superhabitable' and offer conditions more suitable for life than on Earth. Some of the new planets even have better stars than the Sun, the researchers claimed.

Researchers in their study looked for worlds that would be more likely to foster life than Earth. They searched for worlds with older, bigger, warmer and wetter than our planet with the hope of informing future quests for life elsewhere in the universe. The new study identified 24 of the 'superhabitable' planets.  All the planets are 100 light-years away, making it difficult to see them closely, however research with future telescopes could give more information about these worlds, the researchers said.

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Researchers hope to spot the signatures of life on distant planets with the help of technological developments in the upcoming telescopes such as NASA's James Webb Space Telescope and the LUVIOR space observatory and the European Space Agency's PLATO.

Dirk Schulze-Makuch, a professor at Washington State University and the Technical University in Berlin said that with the next space telescopes coming up, they will get more information, and hence it is important to select some targets.

Schulze-Makuch who led the study further added that they have to focus on certain planets that have the most promising conditions for complex life. Adding that they have to be careful to not get stuck looking for a second Earth as there could be planets that might be more suitable for life than our Earth.

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During the study, the researchers identified a host of possible criteria for such superhabitable planets. The researchers then looked through the 4,500 known planets outside of the solar system that has been discovered, in an effort to identify which could have those important criteria. The researchers further looked for planets that are about 10 percent larger than Earth, with the idea that they are likely to have more habitable land. The researchers claimed that more mass would also mean that they would keep their interior heating longer, and stronger gravity to keep hold of its atmosphere for more time.

Superhabitable planets would also likely have a little more water than Earth and be slightly warmer making a planet more habitable, according to researchers. Furthermore, none of the 24 planets described in the study have met all of the criteria identified by the researchers. However, one of them has four of the criteria, which means that it would theoretically be much more accommodating to life and more likely to be inhabited.

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