Cosmic census: crowd of planets in Milky Way

WASHINGTON - Scientists have estimated the first cosmic census of planets in our galaxy and the numbers are astronomical: at least 50 billion planets in the Milky Way.

At least 500 million of those planets are in the not-too-hot, not-too-cold zone where life could exist. The numbers were extrapolated from the early results of NASA's planet-hunting Kepler telescope.

Kepler science chief William Borucki says scientists took the number of planets they found in the first year of searching a small part of the night sky and then made an estimate on how likely stars are to have planets. Kepler spots planets as they pass between Earth and the star it orbits.

So far Kepler has found 1,235 candidate planets, with 54 in the Goldilocks zone, where life could possibly exist. Kepler's main mission is not to examine individual worlds, but give astronomers a sense of how many planets, especially potentially habitable ones, there are likely to be in our galaxy. They would use the one-four-hundredth of the night sky that Kepler is looking at and extrapolate from there.

Borucki and colleagues figured one of two stars has planets and one of 200 stars has planets in the habitable zone, announcing these ratios Saturday at the American Association for the Advancement of Science annual conference in Washington. And that's a minimum because these stars can have more than one planet and Kepler has yet to get a long enough glimpse to see planets that are further out from the star, like Earth, Borucki said.

For example, if Kepler were 1,000 light years from Earth and looking at our sun and noticed Venus passing by, there's only a one-in-eight chance that Earth would also be seen, astronomers said.

To get the estimate for the total number of planets, scientists then took the frequency observed already and applied it to the number of stars in the Milky Way.

For many years scientists figured there were 100 billion stars in the Milky Way, but last year a Yale scientist figured the number was closer to 300 billion stars.

Either way it shows that Carl Sagan was right when he talked of billions and billions of worlds, said retired NASA astronomer Steve Maran, who praised the research but wasn't part of it.

Gallery: New planetary system discovered

And that's just our galaxy. Scientists figure there are 100 billion galaxies.

Borucki said the new calculations lead to worlds of questions about life elsewhere in the cosmos. "The next question is why haven't they visited us?"

And the answer? "I don't know," Borucki said.

[DonBerliner]

Dr. Borucki,

You ask, "...why haven't they visited us?" Isn't it at least a possibility that even a few of what appear to be high-tech vehicles in iur skies that have been reported by expert witnesses as UFOs, arw just what you're looking for?

Don Berliner
Chairman
The Fund for UFO Research, Inc.
Alexandria, VA

[brian_norwood]

Don:

Or have you considered the more obvious answer--that the distances between stars are simply too large to allow Sunday afternoon visits?

[skyk2012]

Follow the Money...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LO8Hy2NQrE8

[stn_sage]

This is YAWN news at best! The important points are: 1. the universe is teeming with life! 2. so-called ETs DO exist and the U.S. Govt has had contact with them for decades! Numerous people formerly employed by the government can verify this, for example, one Clifford Stone! 3. ET's do come and go from this planet! 4. if their intent was to do extensive harm to earthlings, we would have been wiped out eons ago! So, don't worry so much! 5. the U.S. Govt has very advanced technology that they have NOT told the public about! Does everyone believe the B-1 bomber costs one billion dollars apiece because it's a 'low altitude' jet?! It can go further than you think! 6. the U.S. Government hasn't revealed these facts to the public because they want to believe NOBODY can handle it, that gives them their excuse to keep the public ignorant! 7. Eventually, the information will get out, so it would be better if it came fm the U.S. Government, soon!
Afterall, the public has been paying for it for decades, they should be told!

[lucifersshadow]

Not only does there have to be life out there, but there is a high probability that some of the civilizations that exist have communicated with each other and have even met each other . . . we live out in the galactic boondocks, so we have not been visited.

[stn_sage]

I disagree! In 1952, then-President Eisenhower met with representatives of an off-world group of human-type beings! Numerous ancient writings tell of encounters with off-worlders! They are depicted in paintings, on cave walls, and on cunieform! They're real, and they've been here!

[skyk2012]

Every 26,000 years. Dec 21, 2012 @ 11.11 am. Get ready folks...

[stn_sage]

Yes, that's the operative time...give or take! Another often cited day is December 23, 2012. It doesn't mean the world is going to end! That's fear-mongering! What it means is, we're in for geographical changes, and physical and mental human changes! So, don't worry so much and
fear...it'll work out!

[brian_norwood]

Great. Now let me ask, just so I don't oversleep. Is that 11:11AM Eastern Standard time or 11:11AM Bankok time?

[Noval53]

For many centuries now, we earth natives have believed we are alone, unique, and "special" in the universe. We are not. Future generations will marvel at our arrogance and ignorance. We pretend to know all about the universe, and yet we can't even yet get beyond our own puny moon; and greatly struggle attempting to go back. In many ways we are still like the priests of the Middle Age; falsely believing that the universe revolves around the earth. I don't doubt that other far more advanced civilizations are zipping all across the galaxy. But with our current technology we can't see them, so we pompously declare that they don't exist. If you look at our position and placement in the galaxy, it's very likely that we are just an outpost of life in the galaxy and of very small significance in the grand scheme of things. We are great space travelers only in our dreams and movies. The unfortunate scientific reality is, we are going no where fast.