Scientists Find New Planets That Could Support Life

Daily Record

Mar 11 2008

ALIEN life could exist on distant planets, scientists have found.

A study has shown that habitable rocky planets are likely to have formed in the Alpha Centauri system, a trio of stars 4.37 light years, or 25.8 trillion miles, from Earth.

Scientists at the University of California in Santa Cruz carried out computer simulations that suggest Earth-like planets may be orbiting one of the stars.

Some are likely to be in a "habitable zone", the right distance from the star to allow oceans, lakes and rivers to form without freezing or boiling away.

Astronomers now plan intensive telescopic studies of the Alpha Centauri system.