The pioneering new study has helped scientists analyse the conditions on individual planets and assess their ability to sustain life. For years, scientists have been able to observe planets beyond our solar system but due to the limited nature of observation, they found it very difficult to know what individual conditions were like on the planets. In order to address this shortcoming, researchers combined multiple types of data to understand how habitable planets are orbiting M dwarf stars.
Planets around M dwarf stars are thought to be the most likely place for us to find alien life, because they are commonplace making up 70% of those in our galaxy.
The study added new questions to the search for habitable planets redefining our understanding of whether a planet could be habitable.
The researchers took into account factors like planet rotation and radiation from a star, which thus led to understanding on how the radiation regulates temperatures on these rocky planets.
The likelihood of water reserves on the planets are much more easily identified and by extension the capacity of those planets to host life.
Researchers have used a range of techniques to begin cataloguing habitable planets (Image: GETTY)
These planets have the capacity to sustain life (Image: GETTY)
Among the discoveries of the project scientists have found that planets with a thin ozone layer have dangerously high dosages of UV that make it hazardous for complex life even with perfect temperature ranges.
Scientists also discovered that planets around active stars are less likely to retain water, making them less likely to hold alien life.
The new research was carried out by researchers from Northwestern University, University of Colorado Boulder, NASA’s Virtual Planet Laboratory and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
They published their findings this week in the Astrophysical Journal, Howard Chen the first author of the study praising their accomplishments.
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Planets orbiting active stars were found to be less habitable (Image: GETTY)
“It’s only in recent years that we have had the modelling tools and observational technology to address this question.”
“‘Are we alone?’ is one of the biggest unanswered questions,” Chen said.
“If we can predict which planets are most likely to host life, then we might get that much closer to answering it within our lifetimes.”
The breakthrough comes as NASA have tested a “very special material” which will allow NASA to build the “houses of tomorrow” on the Moon and save astronaut’s lives.
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The new breakthrough allows us to evaluate planets throughout the galaxy (Image: GETTY)
By identifying these planets we may some day be able to inhabit them (Image: GETTY)
Amazon Prime’s “Tomorrow’s World” series revealed last week that cosmic rays “threaten astronauts” on board the International Space Station (ISS).
These high-energy protons and atomic nuclei originate from the Sun, outside of the Solar System, or even distant galaxies and move through space at the speed of light, penetrating everything in their path.
Scientists at the Nuclear Physics research centre (GSI) in Germany are currently trying to find ways to combat this invisible threat and one of the measures see houses and bases created out of Moon rocks.
The narrator said last year: “In space, a big danger threatens astronaut’s lives, cosmic rays.
“This particle flux that circulates in the void is capable of penetrating cells and destroying human DNA.
“On Earth, our planet’s magnetic field protects us from these harmful rays, but when in space for six months, astronauts are exposed to a dose equivalent to over 600 chest X-Rays.
“So, before organising a longer trip to further away from Earth and its protective environment, scientists from all over the world are trying to find ways to protect man.
The “special material” is similar in composition to Moon rock (Image: GETTY)
“In Darmstadt, Germany, Professor Durante and his team study very special materials, identical sand to that found on Mars and on the Moon.
“These Martian and Moon sand replicas interest them because they believe that one day man could use it to settle in space.”