The universe is filled with countless stars, making the odds of life beyond Earth high. And we’ve already found planets that could support it.
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00:00How likely is it that life exists elsewhere in the universe?
00:11In the part of the universe that we can observe, there are an estimated one quadrillion stars.
00:18And many stars have multiple planets.
00:22So the chances of life existing out there somewhere are pretty high.
00:31We know what life needs to develop from studying life here on Earth.
00:36Many factors need to come together for life to emerge.
00:43A constant source of light from the sun over billions of years helps create a stable environment.
00:50Our Earth orbits at just the right distance, far enough for liquid water to exist on its
00:57surface, which is the most important condition for life as we know it.
01:03The area around a star in which life could be possible is called the habitable zone.
01:09In our own galaxy, the Milky Way, there could be hundreds of millions or even billions of
01:14habitable planets.
01:18Some distant planets and habitable zones have already been found.
01:23Some are even categorized as superhabitable planets, meaning their conditions could be
01:28even better for life than Earth's, and they would have had more time for life to develop.
01:35But we don't know yet whether there's actually life there.
01:39These planets are too far away from us to study in detail.
01:47The James Webb Space Telescope is already searching exoplanet atmospheres for signs
01:52of life.
01:56In 2026, the PLATO telescope will begin studying planets as they pass in front of their star.
02:03And in Chile, the world's largest telescope will soon go into operation.
02:09Astronomers hope that the extremely large telescope will allow them to study exoplanets
02:14and habitable zones for the first time.
02:19Even within our own solar system, there are places where life in theory could exist.
02:24Europa, one of Jupiter's moons, is a top candidate, along with Enceladus, a moon of Saturn.
02:32And there could even be life on our closest neighbor, Mars.