P.J.
0
NASA finds the most Earth-like exoplanet yet
July 23, 2015,
The space agency has found what it calls the most Earth-like alien world ever detected, an exoplanet named Kepler-452b that's orbiting within the habitable zone of a sun-like star.
July 23, 2015,
The space agency has found what it calls the most Earth-like alien world ever detected, an exoplanet named Kepler-452b that's orbiting within the habitable zone of a sun-like star.
NASA has discovered the closest thing yet to another Earth, scientists announced in a press conference Thursday. The exoplanet is named Kepler-452b, and it's the first near-Earth-sized planet found orbiting in the "habitable zone" of a sun-like star.
The habitable zone is the area around a star where liquid water can pool on the surface of an orbiting planet, potentially enabling life as we know it. Scientists can't be sure yet if Kepler-452b has a rocky surface — not to mention water — but so far it looks more like our home world than any previously discovered exoplanet.
Kepler-452b is about 60 percent larger than Earth in diameter, but it's the smallest-known planet in the habitable zone of a G2-type star, like our sun. Its mass and makeup are still unclear, but scientists with NASA's Kepler Mission say it's probably about five times Earth's mass with roughly double our planet's gravity. It has a "slightly better than even chance of being rocky," its discoverers say.
This exoplanet's home star, Kepler-452, is similar to our sun but with a few key differences. It's 1.5 billion years older, 20 percent brighter and 10 percent larger in diameter. It's about the same temperature, though, and Kepler-452b is only 5 percent farther away from it than we are from our sun.
please read more from here
http://www.mnn.com/earth-matters/space/blogs/nasa-makes-earth-shattering-discovery
The habitable zone is the area around a star where liquid water can pool on the surface of an orbiting planet, potentially enabling life as we know it. Scientists can't be sure yet if Kepler-452b has a rocky surface — not to mention water — but so far it looks more like our home world than any previously discovered exoplanet.
Kepler-452b is about 60 percent larger than Earth in diameter, but it's the smallest-known planet in the habitable zone of a G2-type star, like our sun. Its mass and makeup are still unclear, but scientists with NASA's Kepler Mission say it's probably about five times Earth's mass with roughly double our planet's gravity. It has a "slightly better than even chance of being rocky," its discoverers say.
This exoplanet's home star, Kepler-452, is similar to our sun but with a few key differences. It's 1.5 billion years older, 20 percent brighter and 10 percent larger in diameter. It's about the same temperature, though, and Kepler-452b is only 5 percent farther away from it than we are from our sun.
please read more from here
http://www.mnn.com/earth-matters/space/blogs/nasa-makes-earth-shattering-discovery
