Scientists have identified a “close cousin” to Earth that is orbiting a sun-like star and might harbor life.
“It is the closest thing that we have to another place that somebody else might call home,” NASA California-based Ames Research Center’s Jon Jenkins said.
The researchers announced their discovery on Thursday based on observations from NASA’s Kepler space telescope.
This older, bigger cousin to Earth is called Kepler-452b. What makes this planet remarkable is that it orbits its star at about the same distance that Earth orbits the sun. What is more, its home star looks to be similar to our sun. Based on what scientists know today, Jenkins noted it is the nearest thing to another Earth-sun twin system.
“Today the Earth is a little less lonely, because there’s a new kid on the block,” Jenkins said during a news conference. He led the team that discovered Kepler-452b.
The last Kepler discovery that had scientists gushing was just more than a year ago. That close-to-Earth-size planet, Kepler-186f, was also in the habitable zone of its star. However, that faint dwarf star was unlike our sun.
John Grunsfeld, NASA’s science mission chief, emphasized that the exoplanet system identified on Thursday is “a pretty good close cousin to the Earth and our sun.”
“And I really emphasize the ‘so far,’” he added.
Kepler was launched in 2009 and has nearly 5,000 potential exoplanets to its credit — worlds beyond our solar system.
While scientists are uncertain whether Kepler-452b is rocky like Earth, they believe there is a better than even chance it is.
It is 60 percent larger in diameter than Earth. Its star, Kepler 452, is also bigger, as well as brighter than the sun.
If the planet is indeed rocky, geologists believe its mass would be five times that of Earth and its gravity would be twice Earth’s. Its atmosphere would be thicker and have more clouds, and any volcanos would likely still be active.
Kepler-452b takes 385 days to orbit its star, just a little more than Earth takes for a one-year lap. It is just a bit farther from its star than Earth is from our sun. That is important, because it makes the planet ripe, potentially, for liquid water on the surface. And water could mean life.
The planet is in a solar system that is 1,400 light-years from our own, located in the Constellation Cygnus, or swan.
“So pack your bags, it’s a long trip,” Jenkins said.
Kepler-452b is among more than 500 new entries listed in the Kepler team’s latest catalog of exoplanet candidates released on Thursday. Kepler identifies potential planets by looking for periodic blips against the brightness of stars — about 150,000 stars to be exact.
Of those 500-plus new potential planets, 12 are less than twice Earth’s diameter and also orbiting in the so-called habitable zone of their star, also known as the just-right Goldilocks zone.
Kepler-452b is the first of those 12 to be confirmed as a true planet, thanks to ground observations.
Altogether, the catalog now includes 4,696 exoplanet candidates. Slightly more than 1,000 of them — 1,030 — are confirmed to be planets.
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