Alien life could be found within 40 years, says royal astronomer Alien life beyond our solar system could be discovered within the next 40 years according the Queen's astronomer, Lord Martin Rees, said last night. The question of whether earth is alone in supporting living organisms has dogged scientists, philosophers and amateur stargazers for centuries. But Lord Rees, president of the Royal Society, believes that developments in astronomy mean that astrophysicists could be able to view images of distant planets outside of our solar system as soon as 2025, and potentially discover whether there is some form of life on them. Lord Martin Rees, the Astronomer Royal, says life beyond our solar system could be discovered within the next 40 years He said: 'We know now that stars are orbited by retinues of planets just as our sun is. We have learned this in just the last decade, essentially. 'Within 10 or 20 years we will be able to image other planets like the earth, orbiting other stars. 'That will be a really exciting subject to see if there is evidence for [extra-terrestrial] life or not.' Speaking at a debate on the meaning of life for the launch of Professor Stephen Hawking's new show Grand Design, he added that finding out more about the "origin of life, the place where it exists, and whether aliens exist, is going to be crucial over the next four decades. Professor Hawking was guest of honour at the debate, which also featured Cambridge University