What we know about the stars where NASA will hunt for alien life

To prepare for one of the most advanced searches for life on other planets, astronomers have examined the stars that a new multibillion-dollar telescope might target. They discovered some may be better suited than others to hunt for potential alien life.

In the 2040s, NASA plans to launch the Habitable Worlds Observatory (HWO), a successor to the James Webb Space Telescope. Its primary goal is to image 25 Earth-like planets in the habitable zones of sun-like stars – where water, or even life,…