by: Cathal Kelly
We are surrounded by dozens of habitable planets. We just can’t see them yet, according to a researcher.
In his new book, How to Find a Habitable Planet, geoscientist Jim Kasting suggests that the chances that each of the stars you see in the sky is being rotated by a planet capable of sustaining life are surprisingly high.
Kasting is the chair of NASA’s Exoplanet Exploration Program Analysis Group.
“I’m very optimistic. I think Earths are common,” Kasting said. “If you take any given type of solar star, the chances of finding an Earth-like planet are reasonably good … the odds (of any star being orbited by a habitable planet) might be somewhere between a tenth and a half.”