Thursday, July 23, 2015

Kepler Space Telescope Finds Most Earthlike Planet Yet


NASA's  Kepler space telescope has spotted the most Earth-like alien planet yet discovered.

The XO planet is designated Kepler-452b.  This Earth-like planet is only slightly larger than Earth and orbits a sun-like star at about the same distance Earth circles the sun.

Other small, possibly habitable exoplanets have been discovered, but those previous finds orbit red dwarfs, stars much smaller and cooler than the sun.

The Kepler-452b system resides 1,400 light-years away (Just for giggles the number 5865696 followed by 6 zeros and that is how many miles light travels in just 1 year. So you do the math by timing that already huge number by how many light years K-452b is from Earth).

Kepler 452b is about 60 percent wider than Earth and the planet is probably about five times more massive than our own, making it what astronomers call a "super Earth",most likely possessing a thick atmosphere, lots of water, active volcanoes and a "year" lasting 385 days, only slightly longer than Earth's.

Kepler-452b orbits a sun like star that's just 10 percent bigger and 20 percent brighter Sol. It would feel very much like Earth.

For more check out the Space.com link

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