Feb 23

　　In an atmosphere of looming federal funding cuts, the search for intelligent life on other planets is still capturing the imaginations—and research interests—of astronomers.

　　Scientists already know that only a tiny fraction of the 200 to 400 billion stars in our galaxy seem to have what it takes to support life on orbiting planets.

　　Now researchers think they know where such potential habitable stars—or "habstars"—hang in the sky.

　　Margaret Turnbull, of the Carnegie Institution in Washington, D.C., recently released her list of top five potential habstars in our galaxy, three of which can be seen from Earth with the naked eye.

　　Locating these sunlike stars, she says, is a step toward the eventual search for life on other planets—intelligent or otherwise.

　　"What we are thinking about now is to detect the stars, then the planets, and then life,'' Turnbull said.

　　The astronomer announced this list last week during the annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science in St. Louis, Missouri.

　　五大恒星可能

　　支持生命的存在

　　尽管面临联邦经费的削减， 但在其它行星上寻找有智慧的生命仍然吸引着天文学家的想象和研究兴趣。

　　科学家们已经知道，在银河系2000-4000亿颗恒星中只有极少数似乎具备让生命存在于绕它们运行的行星上。

　　现在研究人员认为他们知道天空中哪里有这种潜在的适合居住的恒星。

　　哥伦比亚特区华盛顿的卡内基研究院的玛格丽特·特恩布尔最近公布了银河系中五大潜在适合居住的恒星的名单，其中3颗是我们在地球上用肉眼就能看到的。

　　她说，找到这些类似于太阳的恒星是最终找到其他行星上的有智慧生命等的第一步。

　　特恩布尔说：“我们现在在思考的是首先探索这样的恒星，然后是它们的行星，然后才是探索生命。”

　　天文学家是上周在密苏里的圣·路易斯举行的美国科学进步协会的年会期间宣布这份名单的。