Researchers have identified 24 planets that could be more habitable than Earth.
Researchers have revealed that they believe the planets outside of our solar system could be even better to nurturing life than this one.
The new study, conducted by experts at Washington State University in the USA, saw the cataloguing the characteristics of potentially ‘superhabitable’ planets in outer space.
The planets could represent a decent chance of discovering life elsewhere, as well as other potential worlds for human habitation one day.
Leader of the study Professor Dirk Schulze-Makuch said: “With the next space telescopes coming up, we will get more information, so it is important to select some targets.
“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.
“It’s sometimes difficult to convey this principle of superhabitable planets because we think we have the best planet. 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.”
All of the planets are more than 100 light years away and all older, bigger, warmer and have more moisture than Earth, according to the research published in the journal Astrobiology.
There is no evidence yet that life exists on these planets but they could become subjects of future study.
Researchers identified specific characteristics for the presence of life. They include the need to orbit a star where liquid water can exist thanks to the right temperature, the right surface temperature – around 41C warmer than Earth’s – and a land mass 10% larger than this planet’s.
