We are nit alone

 

There are at least 300 million potentially habitable planets in our galaxy, NASA finds

How they did it

There are about 100 to 400 billion stars in our Milky Way galaxy, according to NASA estimates. Every star in the sky probably hosts at least one planet -- meaning there are likely trillions of planets out there, of which we have only discovered and confirmed a few thousand.

A lot of factors that influence whether a planet can support life, including its atmosphere and chemical composition. But to narrow down the trillions, the researchers in this study focused on a few basic requirements.

What makes a planet potentially habitable

They looked for stars similar to our own Sun in age and temperature, so it wouldn't be too hot or active. They also looked for exoplanets with a similar radius to Earth, and singled out those that were likely to be rocky.