Best cosmic ‘cradles of life’ may be elliptical in shape
Giant galaxies may be home to 10,000 times as many Earthlike planets as spiral Milky Way
![giant elliptical galaxy](https://i0.wp.com/www.sciencenews.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/cc_ellipticalgalaxy_free.jpg?fit=860%2C460&ssl=1)
GOOD NEIGHBORHOOD The most likely galaxy to host habitable planets might be a giant elliptical such as ESO 325-G004 (pictured, center), which is about 450 million light-years away in the constellation Centaurus.
Hubble Heritage Team/STScI/AURA, NASA, ESA