A study reveals that billions of habitable planets reside in the Milky Way galaxy.

The Universe is big and it's unlikely that ours is the only habitable planet.

A new study suggests that billions of alien planets, similar in size to Earth, are in our own Milky Way galaxy.

Researchers have concluded that 6 percent of the galaxy’s red dwarf stars could host orbiting planets roughly the size of Earth. These planets could lie within their stars habitable zone, a distance needed to support the existence of water.

Some of these planets are believed to be located just a dozen light-years away from Earth. The study author, Courtney Dressing states “We thought we would have to search vast distances to find an Earth-like planet. Now we realize another Earth is probably in our own backyard, waiting to be spotted."

The figures reveal that at least 4.5 billion approximately Earth size planets may reside right in our own galaxy.

With numerous resources being deployed for space exploration, we could be on the verge of some astonishing discoveries.

Last year, a group in the Netherlands laid out detailed plans to set up a colony for habitation on Mars.

Dubbed, Mars One, it projects that over twenty people will be living and working on Mars by 2023.