This artist's concept illustrates the idea that rocky, terrestrial worlds (like the inner planets in our solar system) may be plentiful in the Milky Way. Using NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope, astronomers found that at least 20 percent, and possibly as many as 60 percent, of stars similar to the sun are candidates for forming rocky planets. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/R. Hurt (SSC-Caltech)
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