5 Things an Earth 'Twin' Needed to Have to Live There

So far, countless planets outside the Solar System have been identified by astronomers, but many are gaseous giants such as Jupiter or Neptune, who hardly have any form of life. Still missing a solid surface, these are very different worlds from our blue planet.

In the past, it was announced the discovery of a planet of similar size to ours, but with infernal temperature so hot due to the extreme proximity to its sun.

As the search for other Earths continues, we know that a true twin of our planet must have some indispensable characteristics. Popular Science has listed what these essential factors are. Check it out below.

1 - Being the same size as the earth with a rocky surface

So far, astronomers have found only one planet with a diameter and density similar to Earth's: Kepler 78b, which we commented on above. However, since it is extremely hot, scientists assume that its surface is basically lava. This is not the time yet to find a "twin" planet.

2 - Being near a star like the sun

Having a source of light and heat is essential for human life as well as for other animal and plant life. According to a new analysis from the Universities of California, Berkeley, and Hawaii, one in five stars such as the Sun must have Earth-sized planets in its orbit.

However, much study and observation time will still be needed to find such planets - which have a sun, but which are not too close or too far away, but with the ideal distance to sustain life as it is on Earth.

3 - Have water

Astronomers are known to have discovered water in some exoplanet atmospheres, but the identification of actual surface characteristics is more difficult. The most promising technique is exocartography, in which researchers map the planet's surface uncovering how oceans and continents were in the past.

4 - Biosignatures

Do you know what biosignature is? Biosignature is any substance - such as an element, isotope, molecule, or phenomenon - that provides scientific evidence of past or present life on a planet.

Life on a planet affects its chemistry, and detecting these signals requires taking spectra of it. Sara Seager, an MIT astronomer, says the earth has so many biosignatures that astrobiologists don't know which ones could prevail on a planet beyond ours. "We won't find anything if we don't keep an open mind, " she says.

5 - And the smart life

If the aliens are supposed to use infrared lasers to communicate through space, the search for extraterrestrial intelligence can make their first contact by intercepting these signals. Later this year, scientists will begin new research using infrared detectors installed at the Lick Observatory in California.

* Originally posted on 01/31/2014 .

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