In fact, Meyer and fellow collaborators found that between 20 and 60 percent of the Sun-like stars used in their study—309 stars in total—contain rocky planets like those of Mercury, Venus, Earth, and Mars in the solar system.

They used NASA Spitzer Space Telescope to observe these stars.

Meyer’s team, also, does not discount smaller objects, such as dwarf planet Pluto, from containing life. With hundreds, maybe even thousands, of dwarf planet like Pluto not even known yet, the solar system may contain life on one or more of these small bodies.

The paper (“Evolution of Mid-Infrared Excess around Sun-like Stars: Constraints on Models of Terrestrial Planet Formation”) containing the conclusions of the study appears in the February 1, 2008 edition of the Astrophysical Journal Letters.

Their abstract states, “We report observations from the Spitzer Space Telescope regarding the frequency of 24 μm excess emission toward Sun-like stars. Our unbiased sample is composed of 309 stars with masses 0.7–2.2 M  and ages from <3 Myr to >3 Gyr that lack excess emission at wavelengths ≤8 μm. We identify 30 stars that exhibit clear evidence of excess emission from the observed 24 μm/8 μm flux ratio. The implied 24 μm excesses of these candidate debris disk systems range from 13% (the minimum detectable) to more than 100% compared to the expected photospheric emission. The frequency of systems with evidence for dust debris emitting at 24 μm ranges from 8.5%–19% at ages <300 Myr to <4% for older stars."

In conclusion, the Meyer team states, "The results suggest that many, perhaps most, Sun-like stars might form terrestrial planets.”

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