Most Earth-like Planet Found

[J.C]

Most Earth-like Planet Found
Kepler-452b revolves around a sun much like our own.
By Kerry Grens | July 27, 2015



NASA AMES/JPL-CALTECH/T. PYLENASA scientists have discovered a planet more similar to Earth than any other yet documented. Kepler-452b, as it’s called, is 60 percent larger than our planet and has a year that’s approximately 385 days long.

“Today, the Earth is a little less lonely, because there’s a new kid on the block,” Jon Jenkins, the Kepler project’s data analysis lead, told reporters at a news conference last week (July 23), according toThe Christian Science Monitor.

The planet is 1,400 light years away in the Cygnus constellation. Its sun, Kepler-452, is quite similar to our own, with the same temperature and a diameter 10 percent larger. According to Science, Kepler-452b is estimated to be five times as dense as Earth, with twice the gravity.

“It’s awe-inspiring to consider that this planet has spent 6 billion years in the habitable zone of its star; longer than Earth. That’s substantial opportunity for life to arise, should all the necessary ingredients and conditions for life exist on this planet,” Jenkins said in a statement.

Although scientists are excited by the finding, “because of its size and distance, it is unlikely that we will find out more about Kepler 452b for a considerable time, if ever,” Science reported.

http://www.the-scientist.com/?articles.view/articleNo/43605/title/Most-Earth-like-Planet-Found/