Alien life: Pairs of giant planets may make their star systems ultra-habitable

Simulations of more than 140,000 possible planetary systems show that pairs of giant planets like Jupiter and Saturn may make their star systems more hospitable to habitable Earth-like worlds

By Leah Crane

Giant planets like Jupiter and Saturn may make Earth-like worlds in their star systems more hospitable to life. A study comparing more than 140,000 simulated planetary systems, each with two gas giants, found that while many of them wouldn’t allow any habitable Earth-like worlds, some resulted in “ultra-habitable” systems.

Planets are said to be habitable when they orbit their stars in a particular zone – close enough to allow liquid water on their surfaces but far …