There Are 45 Earth-Like Worlds Where Aliens May Exist, Scientists Say

InnovationScienceThere Are 45 Earth-Like Worlds Where Aliens May Exist, Scientists SayByJamie Carter,Senior Contributor.Forbes contributors publish independent expert analyses and insights. An award-winning reporter writing about stargazing and the night sky.Follow AuthorApr 25, 2026, 03:11am EDT--:-- / --:--This voice experience is generated by AI. Learn more.This voice experience is generated by AI. Learn more.An artist's impression of a theoretical planet orbiting a redder star, which could cause microbes and plants on the planet's surface to reflect very different colours from Earth's green forests.Gillis LowryA new study has identified 45 rocky exoplanets — planets orbiting other stars in the Milky Way — that may be capable of supporting life. The research, published in the Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, narrows down the most promising candidates from more than 6,000 known exoplanets.The international team, led by Professor Lisa Kaltenegger of Cornell University, analyzed data from the European Space Agency’s Gaia mission and NASA’s Exoplanet Archive to identify planets within the so-called habitable zone. This region is defined by conditions that allow liquid water to exist on a planet’s surface.“Our paper reveals where you should travel to find life if we ever built a ‘Hail Mary’ spacecraft,” said Kaltenegger, referring to the Hollywood movie depicting an astronaut on a years-long mission to search for life beyond Earth. The planets featured in the movie, Tau Ceti and 40 Eridani A, are not on the shortlist.Distant Worlds And ‘Project Hail Mary’Among the shortlisted planets are well-known exoplanets such as Proxima Centauri b, just 4.2 light-years away, TRAPPIST-1f (41 light-years), and Kepler-186f (500 light-years), alongside less familiar candidates such as TOI-715 b (137 light-years). Particularly notable are the TRAPPIST-1 planets d, e, f and g, located about 40 light-years from Earth, as well as LHS 1140 b, which lies 48...