NASA Says There Are More Than 5,000 Planets Outside Of Our Solar System; Scientists Searching For Planets ‘Similar To Earth And Signs Of Life’

There are more than 5,000 planets outside of our solar system, according to the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA).

Saturn, Uranus, Mercury, and the six others we know. But those are just the nine main planets in our solar system. According to NASA, more than 5,000 planets exist outside our solar system. However, as far as NASA knows, Earth is still the only planet with conditions suitable for human life.

“There are planets everywhere we look: 5,000 and counting. Even with so many worlds discovered outside our solar system, Earth is still the only one we know of that’s just right for human life,” NASA tweeted.

These planets are called “exoplanets,” or planets outside of our solar system, and NASA just found 5,005 of them. We live in the Milky Way Galaxy, and the exoplanets are located in a small area just outside of it, CBS News reports per NASA. The exoplanets are thousands of lightyears away, with the closest planet, Proxima Centauri, being about four lightyears away.

NASA has been keeping its eyes out of exoplanets for some time, hoping for signs of life or planets with similar climates and conditions as Earth. “As we see on Earth, life can adapt to conditions that human beings would consider very harsh,” says NASA, per CBS News.

For now, though, NASA has set some of its focus on getting to Mars. “Today, NASA is concentrating on the steps to get humans to Mars, which is our next-door neighbor,” NASA says, per CBS News.