"Billions" of planets in the galaxy, says astronomer

From the New York Times:

“In the quest for other worlds beyond the solar system, astronomers keep turning up planetary systems with curiouser and curiouser traits. Yesterday, astronomers who use the Hubble Space Telescope announced that they had done it again, this time locating the fastest moving and most distant ever found.

Among a batch of new planets found by training the Hubble telescope on a small patch of sky far across the galaxy in Sagittarius are as many as five that orbit their home stars in less than a day.

[…]

As potential planets are found in increasing numbers, Dr. Boss said, the odds increase that planets and planetary systems like Earth’s would be found.

Mario Livio, an astronomer at the Space Telescope Science Institute and a member of Dr. Sahu’s team, said, “There are literally billions of planets in our galaxy.””

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