Welcome to my guide to finding Earth-like worlds! Questions about how to find or identify ELWs often pop up, so I wrote this to cover the frequently asked questions and everything related. If you read this little text, you'll know how to improve your chances of finding ELWs. Note that nothing below will guarantee that you'll find one at your next destination: at the end of the day, it's still dependent on the luck of the draw. But you can rig the odds in your favour.
If you're not familiar with the List of Earth-like Worlds, you'll probably want to look it up. Most everything here was originally based on data gathered from there, with some work from others used too. (See the "sources and credits" at the end.)
First off, some basics about star luminosity, primary and main stars, and system mass codes. You can skip this part if you already know what those are. Alternatively, you can read my guide to boxels / subsectors too.
Also, about useful utilities:
So, now that you know that, let's start. Where to look?
First off, decide your answer to a very important question: do you want to go for quantity or quality? Do you wish to find many Earth-likes, or would you rather find rare ones?
In the time it might take to find one of the rare or very rare kinds of ELWs, you might find twenty "standard" ones. Keep this in mind when searching. On the other hand, people are much more likely to remember such Earth-likes, and perhaps visit them too.
Have you decided then?
"I want to find all the Earth-likes!"
"I want to find my special little Earth-like!"
Tying in to both those questions, about places in the galaxy, and ringed Earth-likes:
Also, about single primary star and multiple primary star systems. (See the terms above in case you're not certain what this means!)
"So, what are my odds?"
Now that you've (hopefully) decided what to look for, let's see some tips on how to recognize Earth-likes. Well, with the FSS, this'll be a short one!
"I've found an Earth-like world and scanned it, what now?"
"Alright, I've done all that, what to do now?"
That's around all there is to know at the moment then. Thanks for reading!
Sources and credits:
If you're not familiar with the List of Earth-like Worlds, you'll probably want to look it up. Most everything here was originally based on data gathered from there, with some work from others used too. (See the "sources and credits" at the end.)
First off, some basics about star luminosity, primary and main stars, and system mass codes. You can skip this part if you already know what those are. Alternatively, you can read my guide to boxels / subsectors too.
When you look up the exact star types which are listed under a tab on the galaxy map (or in the journals, via third-party apps) when a system is selected, you'll see stars listed as "G4 VAB", "A9 VI" and so on. Out of these, the first letter is the star type, and the number after it is the star's luminosity. It goes from 0 (most luminous) to 9 (least luminous). This can help you gauge what to expect, and can be quite important when you're visiting class A stars - more on this later.
The part afterwards refers to the stellar classification of the star. For the purposes of finding Earth-likes, this can mostly be ignored, as there's very little difference (in Elite) between VA, VAB, VB and so on: the one exception to this is VZ. Those systems tend to have much worse chances of containing Earth-likes, due to being younger and brighter than their counterparts.
About primary and main stars: I use the term "primary stars" when I talk about stars in a system which co-orbit a common barycenter, and are not in orbit of another body. If there's only one star in the system, it's a solitary (primary) star. The main star of a system is the one that's visible in the star class filter on the galaxy map, and is almost universally the most massive star in the system, and as such, the one you'll arrive at. (There are a few exceptions, mind. Mostly hand-crafted systems, but extremely rarely, procedural ones too.) Now, before you visit a system, the galaxy map will only list the primary stars there: stars which orbit these will be hidden until you get there. For example, you might go somewhere where the galaxy map only lists a Black Hole, only to find that there are red dwarf stars orbiting the main black hole as secondaries. You can also tell by the star's name: a primary star will end with a letter (in a multi-star system), like "Bla Blaa AA-A h0 B", a secondary star will end with a number.
Out of all these, the main star has pretty much always the highest influence on the system, so to speak.
As for the system mass codes: the names of procedurally generated systems have plenty of clues in them, like their position within the galaxy, their position within the sector, and the total mass of the system. Here's an example system name:
Wizz AR-D d1-42
The bold letter is the system mass code. It goes from A (least massive) to H (most massive). The mass code denotes the total mass of the system, and is useful for various things. First, most main star types fall very well into one mass code: for example, the vast majority of class F main stars are in mass code D systems. (The exceptions are G stars, which are split 50-50 between mass codes C and D.) For further data on this, see my breakdown of mass codes and star types.
Second, as the higher a system's code is, the higher its mass is (duh), and this in turn can mean that the system itself will have a more interesting configuration. Put another way, a code H system will likely have more bodies and larger variety than a code B system will. There are other factors to consider, of course, such as how, as you'll see later, mass code D tends to have the most Earth-likes, and how the various mass codes are distributed throughout the galaxy. See the "Mass Distribution" charts on EDAstro.com.
The part afterwards refers to the stellar classification of the star. For the purposes of finding Earth-likes, this can mostly be ignored, as there's very little difference (in Elite) between VA, VAB, VB and so on: the one exception to this is VZ. Those systems tend to have much worse chances of containing Earth-likes, due to being younger and brighter than their counterparts.
About primary and main stars: I use the term "primary stars" when I talk about stars in a system which co-orbit a common barycenter, and are not in orbit of another body. If there's only one star in the system, it's a solitary (primary) star. The main star of a system is the one that's visible in the star class filter on the galaxy map, and is almost universally the most massive star in the system, and as such, the one you'll arrive at. (There are a few exceptions, mind. Mostly hand-crafted systems, but extremely rarely, procedural ones too.) Now, before you visit a system, the galaxy map will only list the primary stars there: stars which orbit these will be hidden until you get there. For example, you might go somewhere where the galaxy map only lists a Black Hole, only to find that there are red dwarf stars orbiting the main black hole as secondaries. You can also tell by the star's name: a primary star will end with a letter (in a multi-star system), like "Bla Blaa AA-A h0 B", a secondary star will end with a number.
Out of all these, the main star has pretty much always the highest influence on the system, so to speak.
As for the system mass codes: the names of procedurally generated systems have plenty of clues in them, like their position within the galaxy, their position within the sector, and the total mass of the system. Here's an example system name:
Wizz AR-D d1-42
The bold letter is the system mass code. It goes from A (least massive) to H (most massive). The mass code denotes the total mass of the system, and is useful for various things. First, most main star types fall very well into one mass code: for example, the vast majority of class F main stars are in mass code D systems. (The exceptions are G stars, which are split 50-50 between mass codes C and D.) For further data on this, see my breakdown of mass codes and star types.
Second, as the higher a system's code is, the higher its mass is (duh), and this in turn can mean that the system itself will have a more interesting configuration. Put another way, a code H system will likely have more bodies and larger variety than a code B system will. There are other factors to consider, of course, such as how, as you'll see later, mass code D tends to have the most Earth-likes, and how the various mass codes are distributed throughout the galaxy. See the "Mass Distribution" charts on EDAstro.com.
Since the 2.2 release, the game stores a log of in-game events and information in the so-called Commander's Journal, or journal for short. Various third-party programs can read and process these to give you useful information, and also to automatically submit stellar data (which the journal also stores) to fanmade databases. There are many out there, which will help make things more convenient for players, though none are required per se. You can find lists of various program at EDCodex for example.
So, now that you know that, let's start. Where to look?
First off, decide your answer to a very important question: do you want to go for quantity or quality? Do you wish to find many Earth-likes, or would you rather find rare ones?
In the time it might take to find one of the rare or very rare kinds of ELWs, you might find twenty "standard" ones. Keep this in mind when searching. On the other hand, people are much more likely to remember such Earth-likes, and perhaps visit them too.
Have you decided then?
"I want to find all the Earth-likes!"
Well, in that case, change your star class filter to class F only. You might have better chances at the lower end of the luminosity scale on class A stars (A7-A9), but above that, chances taper off. Meanwhile, any class F main star system that you visit will have the second best chances of containing an ELW.
Also, since systems with class F main stars are almost universally mass code D, you can just stick to those if you're in too much of a hurry to call up the galaxy map. As such, mass code D systems also tend to have the highest chances of containing Earth-likes, most likely due to not just their larger total mass, but their favourable star compositions as well.
One argument in favour of including class A stars as well: certain biological signals have better chances in systems with class A main stars. Some old Horizons bios are restricted to such systems, even. It's not much, but at least something to consider.
Do note that G and K main stars also appear to have better chances in mass code D than they do in mass code C. These are actually more prevalent in either the galactic core or on the rim of the galaxy - see the charts on EDAstro. However, this just means that "better" mass code systems are easier to find there, not that the chances of said systems containing Earth-likes are better there! Moreover, class F (and A) main stars still have the best chances, so if you're going for quantity, just go with those.
Also, since systems with class F main stars are almost universally mass code D, you can just stick to those if you're in too much of a hurry to call up the galaxy map. As such, mass code D systems also tend to have the highest chances of containing Earth-likes, most likely due to not just their larger total mass, but their favourable star compositions as well.
One argument in favour of including class A stars as well: certain biological signals have better chances in systems with class A main stars. Some old Horizons bios are restricted to such systems, even. It's not much, but at least something to consider.
Do note that G and K main stars also appear to have better chances in mass code D than they do in mass code C. These are actually more prevalent in either the galactic core or on the rim of the galaxy - see the charts on EDAstro. However, this just means that "better" mass code systems are easier to find there, not that the chances of said systems containing Earth-likes are better there! Moreover, class F (and A) main stars still have the best chances, so if you're going for quantity, just go with those.
In this case, you have two choices. If you have any specific kinds of configuration in mind, then you can restrict your search to that. For example, want to find binary ELWs? Stick to more luminous stars, as they'll have wider habitable zones: set your filters to class A and F. Want an ELW that orbits some planet as a moon? Go survey class B stars from the lower end of the luminosity range: they rarely contain ELW-s, but if they do, chances are good it'll be a moon. And so on.
Don't know what exactly you want to find, you'd just be open to all? Disable route planner filtering by star class. You might get lucky and bump across an Earth-like orbiting a Herbig Ae/Be protostar, or a class L dwarf, and such - although the chances of this are very low.
Don't know what exactly you want to find, you'd just be open to all? Disable route planner filtering by star class. You might get lucky and bump across an Earth-like orbiting a Herbig Ae/Be protostar, or a class L dwarf, and such - although the chances of this are very low.
If you're travelling around randomly, there is a slight difference between the galactic core and other areas of the galaxy. The difference is due to the fact that boxel metallicities inside the galactic core are capped, and that boxels with lower helium levels can have better chances for ELWs. This is a fairly complex matter, so if you'd like details on the matter, you can read up on it in this thread.
Suffice to say that you can pick parts of sectors that can (but aren't guaranteed to) have better chances of ELWs, and picking these is easier inside the galactic core. (Not to mention that mass code D boxels even in denser areas typically only contain a few hundred systems, they only go into four or five digits inside the core.)
However, bear in mind that even if you find some good boxels, the increase in chances still aren't that large - not nearly as large as what you can get by filtering for star types.
For more information and data on ringed Earth-likes, see this thread.
As for the galactic regions, such as the Inner Orion Spur: ELW chances (and systems in general) are completely independent of the regions. Their borders don't matter for planets: little wonder, since the galactic regions were added to the game years after its launch. The regions are relevant to Notable Stellar Phenomena, surface biologicals and such, but you won't find more (nor fewer) Earth-likes in one region than in any other.
Suffice to say that you can pick parts of sectors that can (but aren't guaranteed to) have better chances of ELWs, and picking these is easier inside the galactic core. (Not to mention that mass code D boxels even in denser areas typically only contain a few hundred systems, they only go into four or five digits inside the core.)
However, bear in mind that even if you find some good boxels, the increase in chances still aren't that large - not nearly as large as what you can get by filtering for star types.
For more information and data on ringed Earth-likes, see this thread.
As for the galactic regions, such as the Inner Orion Spur: ELW chances (and systems in general) are completely independent of the regions. Their borders don't matter for planets: little wonder, since the galactic regions were added to the game years after its launch. The regions are relevant to Notable Stellar Phenomena, surface biologicals and such, but you won't find more (nor fewer) Earth-likes in one region than in any other.
Also, about single primary star and multiple primary star systems. (See the terms above in case you're not certain what this means!)
If there's only one star in a system, it makes the habitable zones fairly simple. Various utilities can even calculate you the distances at which planets might be habitable (either as candidates for terraforming, or ELWs). If there are multiple stars, the situation becomes a lot more complex. The stars will generally "extend" each others' habitable zones, which is good, but stars being too close to each other might "clear out" planets, which is bad. So it's really a gamble. Overall, your chances of finding an ELW around a solitary star might be slightly (but not much) better, but an ELW (and other bodies too) in a more complex system will likely have more interesting orbits.
As of 2024. December 21, Commanders have uploaded to EDDN 450,908 natural (non-terraformed) Earth-likes in 86,676,595 visited systems. Calculating from those, and ignoring the scenarios of systems with multiple Earth-likes, if you picked a destination system entirely at random, you'd have a 0.52% probability of finding an Earth-like world there. Doesn't sound good, does it?
However, keep in mind that you can have a higher probability around in systems more likely to contain Earth-likes. (Rough approximations could point to a 3% probability around the most likely candidates.) Also, as long as the chance isn't zero, given enough time spent, you will eventually find what you're looking for.
Of course, these are just how probabilities are: you might stumble upon three Earth-likes in three systems in quick succession, or you might end up having visited 500 systems and found no pale blue dots. If it's any consolation, know that both have happened to other Commanders before. If you haven't found what you're looking for, you'll just have to keep looking.
However, keep in mind that you can have a higher probability around in systems more likely to contain Earth-likes. (Rough approximations could point to a 3% probability around the most likely candidates.) Also, as long as the chance isn't zero, given enough time spent, you will eventually find what you're looking for.
Of course, these are just how probabilities are: you might stumble upon three Earth-likes in three systems in quick succession, or you might end up having visited 500 systems and found no pale blue dots. If it's any consolation, know that both have happened to other Commanders before. If you haven't found what you're looking for, you'll just have to keep looking.
Now that you've (hopefully) decided what to look for, let's see some tips on how to recognize Earth-likes. Well, with the FSS, this'll be a short one!
As you no doubt know by now (unless you're entirely new to the game yet, in which case, hey, thanks for reading this guide so soon!), the FSS's "Filtered Spectral Analysis" graph tells you exactly what kinds of bodies there are in a system. There's a specific range for Earth-like Worlds there, roughly between R and L in the word "Spectral" - so it would be "SpectRAL". If you see something there, there's at least one ELW in the system.
In case you're not entirely sure whether you're in the correct range, check the "Signal Analysis" part in the bottom right: it tells you what range you're currently tuned to, and exactly what you're going to find there.
If you don't wish to memorise every possible part of the graph, a handy visual help is to overlay an image of the entire FSA spectrum on top of the game. There are various utilities for this as well.
In case you're not entirely sure whether you're in the correct range, check the "Signal Analysis" part in the bottom right: it tells you what range you're currently tuned to, and exactly what you're going to find there.
If you don't wish to memorise every possible part of the graph, a handy visual help is to overlay an image of the entire FSA spectrum on top of the game. There are various utilities for this as well.
"I've found an Earth-like world and scanned it, what now?"
First off, if it has any moons, do scan them too! Especially if it has more than one, which is very rare. When you submit your find to various databases, having the scan data of the moons will be important too. Plus you want your first discovery tag to be on the moons too, don't you?
It's also nice to check the distances of the moons from the planet, and if they are landable, then to check the view as well.
You can also map the Earth-like for quite a lot of credits, and an extra "First Mapped By" tag on it. Since the planets themselves aren't landable, there won't be any POIs down there that you can resolve into locations, so these are all you'd get for your time. All Earth-like worlds are small enough that the efficiency target is set at 6-7 probes: if your DSS is engineered (it doesn't even have to be maxed out), this is trivial to achieve. If you do, you'll be rewarded with +25% more credits.
If you're lucky enough to have found an Earth-like world that has a moon which orbits it very close (which only happens under special circumstances, mostly when the ELW orbits a large body as its moon), then chances are good that the moon itself will have volcanism. In which case I'd definitely recommend mapping it too, then landing at a POI and making some good screenshots there. Such arrangements are very rare, after all.
I'd also recommend scanning the entire system, because some organics (legacy plants from Horizons) have a requirement that an Earth-like (or other life-bearing) body has to be present in the system. So you might get an extra little surprise, and a good place to stock up on materials from. Be on the look-out for NSPs too, just in case - although if there were any present, you probably noticed them already.
Finally, if you're not in a hurry, you might want to search the area for other Earth-likes too, especially in the same subsector or "boxel". You can tell this from the system name: the only thing to change would be the last number after the mass code. As I mentioned before, I also wrote a guide about them.
It's also nice to check the distances of the moons from the planet, and if they are landable, then to check the view as well.
You can also map the Earth-like for quite a lot of credits, and an extra "First Mapped By" tag on it. Since the planets themselves aren't landable, there won't be any POIs down there that you can resolve into locations, so these are all you'd get for your time. All Earth-like worlds are small enough that the efficiency target is set at 6-7 probes: if your DSS is engineered (it doesn't even have to be maxed out), this is trivial to achieve. If you do, you'll be rewarded with +25% more credits.
If you're lucky enough to have found an Earth-like world that has a moon which orbits it very close (which only happens under special circumstances, mostly when the ELW orbits a large body as its moon), then chances are good that the moon itself will have volcanism. In which case I'd definitely recommend mapping it too, then landing at a POI and making some good screenshots there. Such arrangements are very rare, after all.
I'd also recommend scanning the entire system, because some organics (legacy plants from Horizons) have a requirement that an Earth-like (or other life-bearing) body has to be present in the system. So you might get an extra little surprise, and a good place to stock up on materials from. Be on the look-out for NSPs too, just in case - although if there were any present, you probably noticed them already.
Finally, if you're not in a hurry, you might want to search the area for other Earth-likes too, especially in the same subsector or "boxel". You can tell this from the system name: the only thing to change would be the last number after the mass code. As I mentioned before, I also wrote a guide about them.
"Alright, I've done all that, what to do now?"
Fly around, admire your new planet, make lots of screenies with your ship or your Commander in front of the ELW? It's up to you, really. I'd just want to make note of one thing: don't submit the system / planet info to any public databases before you sell the data and get your first discoverer tag on the body! Although it has only happened a couple of times so far, people can automatically scrape these databases for new untagged finds, and nab them before you get back to and sell the data. It's not like submitting the data would be urgent anyway. So, if you're using any utilities that automatically upload data to public databases, I recommend turning that feature off, and doing the upload only after you've tagged your finds.
If you think your find is special enough that other Commanders might want to visit it, I'd recommend visiting the GEC - Galactic Exploration Catalog too. Actually, I'd recommend visiting it anyway, it's good for some inspiration.
If you think your find is special enough that other Commanders might want to visit it, I'd recommend visiting the GEC - Galactic Exploration Catalog too. Actually, I'd recommend visiting it anyway, it's good for some inspiration.
That's around all there is to know at the moment then. Thanks for reading!
Sources and credits:
- @Jackie Silver and others for their work on deciphering how system names are generated and the galactic structure
- and of course, everyone who contributed to the old List of Earth-like Worlds, as the vast majority of the research was first done on their data
- not used here per se, but worth looking at nonetheless: @Orvidius 's map charts generated from EDDN data
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