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Nearly one in four stars like the Sun could have Earth-sized planets, according to a new estimate published in the journal Science.
A US team has found that on average small, so-called rocky planets are much more common in orbit close to their star than giant planets planets similar in size to Jupiter.
This estimate is based on observations from nearby stars taken by the the twin 10-metre Keck telescopes in Hawaii. These show that 22 of the stars had detectable planets.
We aren't even sure they found that one, the measurements are barely above background noise, and they haven't found anymore.
Originally posted by wisintel
Great find. I was only aware that they had found 1 other earth like planet, one of the Gliese 581 planets. This should shake things up a bit if it catches some mainstream attention.
Where I went to school, we called such an estimate a "SWAG"
Dr Andrew Howard, from the University of California at Berkeley, admits that the estimate is currently impossible to back up using existing data.