According to scientists, the life of aliens could be more common than we thought.
But every extraterrestrial life in the universe is likely to inhabit a very different star system, far away, the researchers conclude.
The new study looked at a theoretical twin of the earth and investigated how it could fit into a binary star system. Unlike our own solar system, such places have planets that revolve around two stars.
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They found that in 87 percent of the time, these planets were supposed to be similar to Earth. This, in turn, is considered an ingredient in a climate that promotes the birth of a complex life, such as ourselves or extraterrestrials.
These star systems are found throughout the universe, suggesting that at least some of them could be home to planets on which extraterrestrial life looks up to see two suns in the sky. One-star systems like the one we live in, in fact, seem to be rarer.
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The Eye of Hurricane Dorian, taken by NASA astronaut Nick Hague aboard the International Space Station (ISS) on September 3
NASA / EPA
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The Nile and its delta were captured by the ISS at night on 2 September
NASA
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The galaxy Messier 81 in the northern constellation of Ursa Major, seen from NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope
NASA / JPL-Caltech
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The spaceship Soyuz MS-15 can be seen on this long-exposure photograph when it launches on 25th September from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan
NASA / Bill Ingalls
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Danielson Crater, an impact crater in the Arabian Mars region, captured by NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter probe
NASA / JPL-Caltech
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A team rehearses the landing and extraction of the crew from the Boeing CST-100 Starliner, which transports people to the International Space Station in the White Sands Missile Range off Las Cruces, New Mexico
NASA / Bill Ingalls
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The spacecraft Soyuz MS-15, which is on its way to the International Space Station, will start on 25 September from Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan
NASA / Bill Ingalls
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Hurricane Dorian from the perspective of the ISS on 2 September
NASA
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In this image taken by the ISS on September 4, a series of tropical cyclones are streaming across the northern hemisphere
NASA
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The city of New York from the perspective of the ISS on 11 September
NASA
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The Eye of Hurricane Dorian, taken by NASA astronaut Nick Hague aboard the International Space Station (ISS) on September 3
NASA / EPA
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The Nile and its delta were captured by the ISS at night on 2 September
NASA
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The galaxy Messier 81 in the northern constellation of Ursa Major, seen from NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope
NASA / JPL-Caltech
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The spaceship Soyuz MS-15 can be seen on this long-exposure photograph when it launches on 25th September from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan
NASA / Bill Ingalls
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Danielson Crater, an impact crater in the Arabian Mars region, captured by NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter probe
NASA / JPL-Caltech
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A team rehearses the landing and extraction of the crew from the Boeing CST-100 Starliner, which transports people to the International Space Station in the White Sands Missile Range off Las Cruces, New Mexico
NASA / Bill Ingalls
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The spacecraft Soyuz MS-15, which is on its way to the International Space Station, will start on 25 September from Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan
NASA / Bill Ingalls
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Hurricane Dorian from the perspective of the ISS on 2 September
NASA
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In this image taken by the ISS on September 4, a series of tropical cyclones are streaming across the northern hemisphere
NASA
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The city of New York from the perspective of the ISS on 11 September
NASA
"Multi-star systems are widely used and about 50% of the stars are binary companion stars, so this study can be applied to a large number of solar systems," said study co-researcher Gongjie Li and assistant professor at the Georgia Tech School of Physics, in an explanation.
The researchers first studied how the slope of the Earth is compared with the slope of Mars. They found that our relatively small slope changes help make the Earth a great place to start and thrive, whereas the much more extreme variations of Mars helped destroy its atmosphere.
Then they looked at how the Earth could develop when it is in the system known as Alpha Centauri AB, the neighbor of our solar system, and a binary system of two stars known as "A" and "A". The message was pessimistic in this system and offered bad news to those who plan to send a space probe to the system to find someone else's life.
"We simulated what other binary files with multiple star masses, orbital qualities, etc., would look like," said Billy Quarles, principal investigator of the study and researcher in Li's lab. "The general message was positive, but not for our nearest neighbor."
The researchers then looked further into the universe. The results were more positive for extraterrestrial life as they looked further, as the study showed that gentle variations like Earth's were far more likely to look deeper into the cosmos.
"In general, the distance between the stars in binary systems is greater, and the second star has less impact on the Earth model.The planet's own momentum dynamics dominate other influences, and the slope usually varies less," Li said. "So that's pretty optimistic."
The new study – Obliquity Evolution of Circumstellar Planets in Sun-like Stellar Binaries & # 39; was published today in the Astrophysical Journal. It was funded by the Exobiology Program of Nasa.
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