A newly discovered planet is eerily similar to Earth and is sitting outside our solar system in what seems to be the ideal place for life, except for one hitch. It's a bit too big. The planet is in the middle of what astronomers call the ‘Goldilocks' zone, that hard to find place that's not too hot, not too cold, where water, which is essential for life, doesn't freeze or boil. And it has a shopping mall-like surface temperature of near 72 degrees, scientists say. The planet's confirmation was announced on Monday by Nasa along with other discoveries by its Kepler telescope, which was launched on a planet-hunting mission in 2009. That's the first planet confirmed in the habitable zone for Kepler, which had already found Earth-like rocky planets elsewhere. Twice before astronomers have announced a planet found in that zone, but neither have been as promising. "This is a phenomenal discovery in the course of human history," Geoff Marcy of University of California, Berkeley, one of the pioneers of planet-hunting outside our solar system, said in an email. The planet — named Kepler-22b — has key aspects it shares with Earth. It circles a star that could be the twin of our sun and at just about the same distance. The planet's year of 290 days is even close to ours. It likely has water and rock. Read more about Kepler-22b The only trouble is the planet's a bit big for life to exist on the surface. The planet is about 2.4 times the size of Earth. It could be more like the gas-and-liquid Neptune with only a rocky core and mostly ocean.
GMT 12:31 2017 Sunday ,24 December
SpaceX launches 10 more satellites for IridiumGMT 18:48 2017 Tuesday ,12 December
Bitcoin makes muted stock exchange debut at $15,000GMT 18:19 2017 Saturday ,09 December
France to allow trading of securities via blockchainGMT 07:39 2017 Thursday ,16 November
Cygnus cargo ship arrives at space stationGMT 17:49 2017 Sunday ,12 November
Aircraft overhead forces Orbital to cancel cargo launchGMT 19:18 2017 Wednesday ,01 November
Sony revives robot pet dogGMT 10:31 2017 Saturday ,28 October
Saudi Arabia Becomes First Country to Grant Citizenship to RobotGMT 17:46 2017 Saturday ,21 October
Spacewalkers fix robotic arm in time to grab next cargo ship
Maintained and developed by Arabs Today Group SAL.
All rights reserved to Arab Today Media Group 2025 ©
Maintained and developed by Arabs Today Group SAL.
All rights reserved to Arab Today Media Group 2025 ©
Send your comments
Your comment as a visitor