Scientists expect to find alien Earths circling red dwarfs in our 'backyard'

An analysis of data from NASA's Kepler planet-hunting mission suggests that about 6 percent of all red dwarf stars should have habitable, Earth-sized planets — and because red dwarfs are the most common stars in our galaxy, the nearest Earthlike planet could be as close as 13 light-years.

"We thought we would have to search vast distances to find an Earthlike planet. Now we realize another Earth is probably in our own backyard, waiting to be spotted," Harvard astronomer Courtney Dressing, the lead author of the data-crunching study, said in a news release.

That doesn't mean we can just hop out the back door and head for a red dwarf: Although 13 light-years is relatively close in astronomical terms, it would still take more than 50,000 years to cover that distance using current propulsion technology. But the finding could lead astronomers to cast a wider net in the search for the conditions conducive to extraterrestrial life.

Dressing presented her team's findings on Tuesday during a news briefing at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, or CfA. The research paper is expected to be published in The Astrophysical Journal.

more here: http://cosmiclog.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/02/06/16868922-scientists-expect-to-find-alien-earths-circling-red-dwarfs-in-our-backyard?lite