NASA scientists discover a new Earth-like planet

We may not be alone in the Universe after all!

Wed, 11 Feb, 2015 - 00:00

Greg Murphy

NASA's Kepler Telescope has recently discovered a planet that is very like our own, orbiting a star that is quite close within our own Galaxy.

Kepler 186f, was found in the Cygnus Constellation around 500 light-years from Earth.

In our Galaxy alone, the Milky Way, NASA has estimated around 40 billion Earth-sized planets but this new discovery is the the first to be found in the habitable zone of the star it orbits.

The planet is in the Goldilocks zone, the area around a star that planets could support liquid water on the surface.

http://t.co/W65V6xxeI8 (Artists impression ) #Kepler186f pic.twitter.com/JfYJrfMvCr
— @THE1STP0WER (Kris 🌞) (@ATHE1STP0WER) February 2, 2015

It orbits its star every 130 days.

“We know of just one planet where life exists – Earth," said a research scientist from the SETI Institute.

"When we search for life outside our solar system we focus on finding planets with characteristics that mimic that of Earth,”

Very cool. An Earth like planet was recently discovered by scientists. How long until vacations on Kepler-186f? pic.twitter.com/qK6rTFiDzo
— Ian Burrows (@djdelay21) February 7, 2015

If Kepler's star is similar to our own Sun, then the probability of life is fairly high.

Kepler 186f - First Earth-sized Planet Orbiting in Habitable Zone of Another Star http://t.co/M69Ya5jjZA pic.twitter.com/9lLpckijyC
— α∂нυнαм αнмє∂ (@8dhu) January 29, 2015