(Ecns.cn)--Two to three habitable planets might exist in the high-inclination asteroid system and all of them move around one fixed star, according to an announcement published Thursday by the Purple Mountain Observatory of the Chinese Academy of Sciences.
The announcement, based on half a year of research by an astronomical research team of the Purple Mountain Observatory, indicates that in the exoplanetary system, there might be Earth-like planets.
"Whether a planet is habitable depends on the type of star it is centered on and the luminosity of this fixed star," said Ji Jianghui, a researcher of the Purple Mountain Observatory. "And whether there will be life on the planet also relies on many other factors, like the life span of the planet and its fixed star, and the condition of the planet."
"Within the solar system, potential habitable planets are mainly between the orbit of Venus and the orbit of Mars," said Ji. High-inclination asteroids belong to extrasolar planets, which is about dozens to hundreds of light years away from the Earth.
According to Ji, currently, there are two major methods to find extrasolar planet: one is through the observation of space telescopes like the Kepler space telescope, and another is via a spectrograph.
