Exoplanets like earth may have better conditions for life than our planet, says Study

The discovery of exoplanets has accelerated the search for life outside our solar system. In this search, a new study has indicated that some exoplanets may have better conditions for life to thrive than Earth itself has. The huge distances to these exoplanets mean that they are effectively impossible to reach with space probes, so scientists are working with remote sensing tool such as telescopes, to understand what conditions prevail on different exoplanets.

According to researcher Dr. Stephanie Olson said, "it shows us that conditions on some exoplanets with favorable ocean circulation patterns could be better suited to support life that is more abundant or more active than life on Earth."

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"NASA's search for life in the Universe is focused on so-called Habitable Zone planets, which are worlds that have the potential for liquid water oceans. But not all oceans are equally hospitable--and some oceans will be better places to live than others due to their global circulation patterns".

Olson's team modeled likely conditions on different types of exoplanets using the ROCKE-3D software*, developed by NASA's Goddard Institute for Space Studies (GISS), to simulate the climates and ocean habitats of different types of exoplanets.

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The first exoplanet was discovered in 1992, and currently, more than 4000 exoplanets have been confirmed so far. The nearest known exoplanet is Proxima Centauri b, which is 4.25 light-years away.