Is there life elsewhere in the universe?

The universe is filled with countless stars, making the odds of life beyond Earth high. And we’ve already found planets that could support it.

Transcript

00:00How likely is it that life exists elsewhere in the universe?

00:11In the part of the universe that we can observe, there are an estimated one quadrillion stars.

00:18And many stars have multiple planets.

00:22So the chances of life existing out there somewhere are pretty high.

00:31We know what life needs to develop from studying life here on Earth.

00:36Many factors need to come together for life to emerge.

00:43A constant source of light from the sun over billions of years helps create a stable environment.

00:50Our Earth orbits at just the right distance, far enough for liquid water to exist on its

00:57surface, which is the most important condition for life as we know it.

01:03The area around a star in which life could be possible is called the habitable zone.

01:09In our own galaxy, the Milky Way, there could be hundreds of millions or even billions of

01:14habitable planets.

01:18Some distant planets and habitable zones have already been found.

01:23Some are even categorized as superhabitable planets, meaning their conditions could be

01:28even better for life than Earth's, and they would have had more time for life to develop.

01:35But we don't know yet whether there's actually life there.

01:39These planets are too far away from us to study in detail.

01:47The James Webb Space Telescope is already searching exoplanet atmospheres for signs

01:52of life.

01:56In 2026, the PLATO telescope will begin studying planets as they pass in front of their star.

02:03And in Chile, the world's largest telescope will soon go into operation.

02:09Astronomers hope that the extremely large telescope will allow them to study exoplanets

02:14and habitable zones for the first time.

02:19Even within our own solar system, there are places where life in theory could exist.

02:24Europa, one of Jupiter's moons, is a top candidate, along with Enceladus, a moon of Saturn.

02:32And there could even be life on our closest neighbor, Mars.