Habitable exoplanets could exist around nearby stars

View larger. | Left, a 3-dimensional map showing stars near the sun. Right, an artist’s concept of a planet close to its star. In their continuing search for habitable exoplanets, astronomers recently measured the amount of radiation coming from 57 nearby stars. For some of these stars, any planets in the habitable zone would receive about the same or even less radiation as Earth from our sun. Image via NASA/ CXC/ M.Weiss.

• The amount and kind of radiation from stars can be dangerous for that star’s planets...