Article content

LONG BEACH, Calif. — Astronomers hunting for Earth-like planets now have many places to look. A new estimate released Monday suggested the Milky Way galaxy is home to at least 17 billion planets similar in size to our planet.

It doesn’t mean all are potentially habitable, but the sheer number of Earth-size planets is a welcome starting point in the search for worlds like our own.

We apologize, but this video has failed to load.

tap here to see other videos from our team. Try refreshing your browser, or At least 17 billion Earth-like planets across the Milky Way: study Back to video

“Earths and super-Earths aren’t picky. We’re finding them in all kinds of neighbourhoods,” co-author Guillermo Torres of the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics said in a statement. The CfA was one of two teams working on the project.

The scientists determined that at least 50% of stars have an Earth-sized or larger planet in close orbit and that practically all stars have planets. It’s planets that are larger than Earth that are more rare. The teams determined that only about 5% of planets have gas giants, for example.