37 Gem -- the 37th brightest star in the constellation of Gemini -- tops a shortlist of 30 candidate stars that are relatively easy to observe and may have the potential for alien life, University of Arizona's Maggie Turnbull is quoted by New Scientist as saying.

The star, 42 light years away, is similar to our own Sun: stable and middle aged, although a bit hotter and brighter.

Turnbull's shortlist has been whittled down from 5,000 stars that are within 100 light years from Earth.

NASA's project entails a space telescope, the Terrestrial Planet Finder (TPF), which after its launch a decade or so from now will scour the skies for habitable planets.

The European Space Agency (ESA) has a similar scheme called Darwin.

Turnbull, who presented her list to TPF and Darwin scientists last week, excluded young stars, whose strong X-ray radiation would be harmful for life, as well as stars in small binary systems.

"An extra star in the telescope's field of view would make tiny Earths tough to spot," New Scientist said.

The article appears in next Saturday's issue of the British weekly.

SPACE.WIRE