Kepler Team Confirms First Earth-like Planet in a Habitable Zone, And Finds 1,094 More Worlds
Kepler 22b Kepler-22b, just 2.4 times the size of Earth, is the first planet known to comfortably circle in the habitable zone of a sun-like star. Scientists do not yet know if the planet has a rocky, gaseous, or liquid composition. It's possible that the world would have clouds in its atmosphere, as depicted here. NASA/Ames/JPL-CaltechThe exoplanet census is doubled again Nestled in the Goldilocks zone of a small, sun-like star is a room-temperature world a little more than twice the size of Earth. Scientists do not yet know if it is rocky or gaseous and whether it has water or clouds, but they do know that it's the right size, and in the right place, for liquid water to exist. If it does exist, it may be one of the best places to look for life outside of our solar system. The new planet, Kepler-22, is about 600 light-years away and...