Earth-size planets common in galaxy: Perhaps 17 percent of sun-like stars have Earth-size planets within the orbit of Mercury
Tuesday, January 8, 2013 - 13:31
in Astronomy & Space
Last year, astronomers were excited to discover that the number of exoplanets increases towards smaller sizes, which suggests that there are many Earth-size planets in the galaxy. A new analysis of three years of Kepler data shows that this increase stops around twice Earth size and holds for planets one to two times the diameter of Earth. Nevertheless, Earth-size planets occur around at least 17 percent of sun-like stars, they conclude.