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Earth is not necessarily the best planet in the universe for life, a new study has found.Researchers have found some 24 planets that are “superhabitable”, offering conditions more suitable for life than they are here on Earth.And some of them even have better stars than our own Sun, the researchers said.The new study looked for worlds that would be even more likely to foster life than our own – including those that are older, bigger, warmer and wetter than Earth – in the hope of informing future searches for life elsewhere in the universe.The study identified 24 of the “superhabitable” planets. They are all 100 light years away, making them difficult if not impossible to ever see up close, but research with future telescopes could give us much more information about those worlds.With technological developments on board upcoming telescopes – such as NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope, the LUVIOR space observatory and the European Space Agency’s PLATO – researchers hope they may even be able to spot the signatures of life on distance planets.Watch more”With the next space telescopes coming up, we will get more information, so it is important to select some targets,” said Dirk Schulze-Makuch, a professor at Washington State University and the Technical University in Berlin, who led the study.”We have to focus on certain planets that have the most promising conditions for complex life. However, we have to be careful to not get stuck looking for a second Earth because there could be planets that might be more suitable for life than ours.”Researchers identified a host of possible criteria for such superhabitable planets. They then looked through the 4,500 known planets outside of our solar system that have been found, in an attempt to identify which could have those important criteria.That included looking for planets “K dwarf stars”, which are not like out sun. Those similar to our star – known as G stars – only have a relatively short lifespan, and given the Sun was almost half its age before any form of complex life arrived, many other similar planetary systems could die out before they are inhabited.K dwarf stars, by contrast, are cooler, smaller and brighter than our sun. They also stay around for much longer – up to 70 billion years – meaning that the planets around them would have much more time to develop advanced life, too.They also looked for planets that are about 10 per cent larger than Earth, with the idea that they are likely to have more habitable land. More mass would also mean that they would keep their interior heating longer, and stronger gravity to keep hold of its atmosphere for more time.Superhabitable planets would also likely have a little more water than Earth, especially if it was kept as moisture. Being slightly warmer would also make a planet more habitable, with an ideal of about 5 degrees Celsius hotter than Earth thought to be the biggest improvement.None of the 24 planets described in the study have all of the criteria, despite the vast number to choose from. But one of them has four of those criteria, meaning that it would theoretically be much more accommodating to life and more likely to be inhabited.”It’s sometimes difficult to convey this principle of superhabitable planets because we think we have the best planet,” said Professor Schulze-Makuch. “We have a great number of complex and diverse lifeforms, and many that can survive in extreme environments. It is good to have adaptable life, but that doesn’t mean that we have the best of everything.”

Mars will make its closest approach to Earth in more than two years this month, as it reaches its point of opposition in the night’s sky.Nasa has described the red planet’s appearance as “effectively a ‘full’ Mars”, offering the best chance to view our planetary neighbour in nearly 20 years.On Tuesday, 13 October, Mars will shine brighter than it has since 2003 and will not appear like this again until 2035.Mars reaches opposition every 26 months, meaning Earth passes directly between the Sun and Mars.October’s opposition will be extra special due to the orbits of Earth and Mars lining up to be at their closest to each other.Read moreThe astronomical phenomenon will see Mars rise as the Sun sets, and set as the Sun rises.Combined with a new moon ‘supermoon’ in the middle of the month, it will give both casual skygazers and seasoned astronomers a rare chance to view Mars at its most spectacular.With the naked eye, Mars will appear brighter and more distinguished in the night’s sky, while with a telescope it will be easier to make out features like polar caps and volcanoes.The researchers said the discovery could be the key in the search for alien life, as living organisms require liquid water to survive.
Mars rover Curiosity finds evidence of ancient fast-moving streams on surface of red planetShow all 2

SpaceX has once again scrubbed the launch of its latest Starlink mission.It was the fourth attempt to deliver a batch of 60 satellites into low-Earth orbit as part of Elon Musk’s controversial plan to beam high-speed internet down to Earth.“We are standing down from today’s Starlink mission due to weather violations on the Range,” SpaceX tweeted. “The team is setting up for a launch opportunity at 7.29am EDT [12.29pm BST]; weather forecast is 70 per cent favourable for liftoff.”The latest launch will bring the total number of Starlink satellites in orbit close to 800, with thousands more planned for 2021.The satellite constellation has faced heavy criticism from the astronomy community, who claim that they interfere with observations.In August, hundreds of astronomers warned that Starlink’s network could prove “extremely impactful” to science programs and hinder scientific progress.