The Earth is teeming with life, which occupies a diverse array of environments; other bodies in our Solar System offer fewer, if any, niches that are habitable by life as we know it. Nonetheless, astronomical studies suggest that many habitable planets may be present within our Galaxy.
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Acknowledgements
I thank J. Cuzzi, F. Drake and G. Marcy for insightful discussions.
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Lissauer, J. How common are habitable planets?. Nature 402 (Suppl 6761), C11–C14 (1999). https://doi.org/10.1038/35011503
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/35011503
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