Dr Robin Catchpole, well known astronomer working for the Royal Observatory at Greenwich, said there could be life on other planets in our solar system of the universe but the living beings there should not be necessarily intelligent or even multi-cellular like the human beings.

“It is unlikely that the life outside of the earth can be compared to the humans on earth,” he told the News 24 channel during his visit to Johannesburg.

Some sort of life similar to bacteria may be found somewhere in our solar system but multi-celled life is unlikely anywhere, Robin Catchpole was quoted as saying by the channel.

The professor, who also teaches astronomy at the prestigious Institute of Astronomy in Cambridge, said that evidence of molecules - the basic precursors of life - all over the place in interstellar clouds was discovered with the help of radio telescopes.

“Of course, we need to do more research and probe of the universe,” he said, adding that modern technology would help us better understand the phenomenon. (JUBS)