After analyzing the latest data received from NASA’s Kelper Telescope, it has been disclosed that almost all Sun-like stars I the galaxy have planets on their orbit. Approx 17% of them (1 from 6) have a planet having a size of our own in near orbit. It has been estimated that there are approx 100 billion stars in the Milky Way, it means that only our galaxy have 17 billion Earth-size planets, some of them have circumstances for the possibility of life.
Using the Transit Method, NASA Kelper Telescope is discovering the planets in faraway stars, launched in March 2009. Telescope is also detecting the periodic, decrease in the light we received from a star that we can identify when a planet hide its own star as per observation.
Kelper discovered 2400 planetary candidates even after a survey of 16 months. After analyzing the data gathered from Kelper, an international researcher group has concluded that 10 % of the planetary candidates (as per Kelper ) are not the planets, while all others are planets.
It seems that half of the stars in our galaxy have a big planet like our earth in the near orbit, on including the big planets in the wider orbit, this figure may rise up to 70 %. If adding the data figure obtained by from other planetary different discovering methods, it seems that almost all the Sun-like stars have planets in their obits.
Out of total stars, nearly 17 % gave planet 0.8 to 1.25 size of the Earth orbiting them in 85 days or less. Nearly 25 % of the stars have a planet 1.25 to 2 times size of the Earth orbiting them in 150 days or less. Further 25 % of the stars have planet 2-4 times size of the earth orbiting them in 250 days. At least only one star from each twenty has gas giant 6 to 22 times earth size orbiting 400 days or less.
After analyzing the data carefully, researcher also found that, it seems to be no relationship between the type of star and size of the planet in their orbit.
Analyzing the data gathered in 2011, Kelper enabled the researcher to estimate the number of planets in the galaxy up to 50 billion. From 50 billion, approx 500 million are “habitable zone” having the right temperature and pressure to keep water on their surface, means life is possible there.
Scientists yet don’t know that what are the exact conditions for life, without knowing this, planets must orbit in the habitable zone, but other conditions are still to be known as well. For instance, it is said that the Jupiter presence in our solar system is of utmost importance because it acts as a shield against passing asteroids and protects Earth’s fragile biochemistry.
Kelper’s current mission may not astronomers to verify such theories; however it helped to characterize the incidence of Jupiter and other planets in the whole galaxy. It can also help to find that how many solar systems are virtually same as ours.
Francois Fressin, an analyst at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics (CfA),has recently presented a new analysis to the American Astronomical Society
