International team hunts for planets that could sustain life

A new space mission to hunt for potentially habitable planets is under way as scientists in Australia and the US will search in the Alpha Centauri star system for Earth-like planets that could sustain life.

The Toliman mission will look for potential planets orbiting two sunlike stars, known as Alpha Centauri A and B. The Toliman telescope is set to be launched into low-Earth orbit in 2023. It seeks to discover new planets in the “Goldilocks orbit”

– at the right distance, so the planet is neither too hot nor too cold to sustain life.