NASA Finds Earth-Size Planet Candidates in Habitable Zone, Six Planet System
Posted by doctore0 on February 2, 2011
Sweet.. I want to go.. somehow š
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ScienceDaily (Feb. 2, 2011) ā NASA’s Kepler mission has discovered its first Earth-size planet candidates and its first candidates in the habitable zone, a region where liquid water could exist on a planet’s surface. Five of the potential planets are near Earth-size and orbit in the habitable zone of smaller, cooler stars than our sun.
Candidates require follow-up observations to verify they are actual planets. Kepler also found six confirmed planets orbiting a sun-like star, Kepler-11. This is the largest group of transiting planets orbiting a single star yet discovered outside our solar system.
“In one generation we have gone from extraterrestrial planets being a mainstay of science fiction, to the present, where Kepler has helped turn science fiction into today’s reality,” said NASA Administrator Charles Bolden. “These discoveries underscore the importance of NASA’s science missions, which consistently increase understanding of our place in the cosmos.”
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Dave said
Today NPR stated that 54 planets have been discovered which orbit their star within the ‘goldilocks’ zone. Wow.
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doctore0 said
Exciting times!!
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doctore0 said
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doctore0 said
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