There may be life on 36 planets in our galaxy according to a new report by scientists

Astrophysicists have estimated the number of intelligent alien species that could possibly exist in our galaxy.

According to a study at the University of Nottingham, humans should be finding ways to make contact with 36 other intelligent civilisations in the Milky Way.

Intelligent life would evolve on other planets in a similar way to how it did on earth, according to the scientists.

This means alien life would require a habitable distance from a star like our sun.

The findings, published in The Astrophysical Journal, reveal the estimated age of one of these possible life-filled planets would need to be between 4.5 and 5.5 billion years old.

What is considered ‘intelligent’ life?

The team behind the study defined ‘intelligent life’ as being able to broadcast radio signals into space.

This concept is summarised by the acronym ‘CETI’ which stands for Communicating Extra-Terrestrial Intelligent civilisations.

Lead researcher,Professor Christopher Conselice, an astrophysicist at Nottingham University explained: “There should be at least a few dozen active civilisations in our galaxy under the assumption that it takes five billion years for intelligent life to form on other planets, as on Earth.

“The idea is looking at evolution, but on a cosmic scale. We call this calculation the Astrobiological Copernican Limit,” he added.

"Our new research suggests that searches for extraterrestrial intelligent civilisations not only reveals the existence of how life forms, but also gives us clues for how long our own civilisation will last.