New Earths Estimate

A study of the early data from the Kepler planet-hunting probe suggests that there could be two billion Earth-like planets orbiting within the habitable zones of Sun-like stars in the Milky Way. That number is so huge that some scientists say chances are good that life-- even intelligent life-- exists among the stars.

That's not all. Red dwarfs are by far the most numerous stars in the galaxy, and there is reason to think Earth-like worlds can be found orbiting those, as well-- which would kick the number of such worlds even higher. Further still, if Earths exist around stars like the Sun-- the study puts that rate at roughly two percent of Sun-like stars-- and if Earths exist around red dwarfs, there's probably no reason to think Earths wouldn't orbit types of stars between red dwarfs and the Sun. If that line of reasoning were to prove out, it would mean yet more Earths are out there.