The Probability of Finding Aliens Is Now 3 times Higher [Astronomy]

The entire number of stars within the Universe ” is likely 3 times bigger than realized .” Yale University astronomer Pieter van Dokkum says there are ” possibly trillions of Earths orbiting these stars,” dramatically increasing the possibility of finding alien civilizations.

According to the new study just published in Nature, new observations on the red end of the optical spectrum at the W. M. Keck Observatory in Hawaii show an overwhelming population of red dwarfs in eight massive nearby elliptical galaxies. The team has discovered that this galaxies hold twenty times more red dwarfs than the Milky Way.

Van Dokkum says that ” there are probably trillions of Earths orbiting these stars” which might be ” typically more than 10 billion years old.” In keeping with him, that’s long enough for complex life to conform, that’s ” one the reason is individuals are involved in this sort of star.” If truth be told, astronomers discovered the first exoplanet akin to our own Earth-and therefore capable of harboring complex life-orbiting the Gliese 581 red dwarf star system , 20.3 light years from our home planet.

Carl Sagan explains why this discovery has a dramatic impact in our seek for intelligent life within the Universe, using the Drake Equation:

Logically, when you increase the number of stars within the universe by three, the number of potential extraterrestrial civilizations increases by thrice in addition. Whether we make contact or not is another story.

The discovery doesn’t only have a deep impact searching for extraterrestrial life, but additionally on our understanding of galaxy formation and the Universe itself. Team member Charlie Conroy-of the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics-says that this could be a sign that galaxies contain less dark matter than originally suspected, since the abundance of red dwarfs ” could contribute more mass than realized” to the Universe. [ Nature and Keck Observatory ]

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This post is tagged: alien civilizations, extraterrestrial civilizations, extraterrestrial life, harvard smithsonian center, harvard smithsonian center for astrophysics, nearby elliptical galaxies