Researchers at The University of Auckland have proposed a
new method for finding Earth-like planets and they anticipate that the number
will be in the order of 100 billion.
The strategy uses a technique called gravitational microlensing,
currently used by a Japan-New Zealand collaboration called MOA (Microlensing
Observations in Astrophysics) at New Zealand’s Mt John Observatory. Their work
will appear in the Oxford University Press journal Monthly Notices of the Royal
Astronomical Society.
Lead author Dr Phil Yock from the University of Auckland’s
Department of Physics explains that the work will require a combination of data
from microlensing and the NASA Kepler space telescope.