Two new planets are the closest NASA has come so far to finding another like Earth (and they’re just 1,200 light years away)
NASA has unveiled new planetary results from its Kepler mission, and has found two very Earth-like planets and another which they term a “super Venus.”
“Two of the newly discovered planets orbit a star smaller and cooler than the sun. Kepler-62f is only 40% larger than Earth, making it the exoplanet closest to the size of our planet known in the habitable zone of another star,” NASA explains in a release. “Kepler-62f is likely to have a rocky composition. Kepler-62e, orbits on the inner edge of the habitable zone and is roughly 60% larger than Earth.”
The distant duo are the best candidates for habitable planets that astronomers have found so far, said William Borucki, the chief scientist for NASA’s Kepler telescope.
A planet in another system, Kepler-69, is a slightly less ideal candidate, though only compared to the other two.
“The third planet, Kepler-69c, is 70% larger than the size of Earth, and orbits in the habitable zone of a star similar to our sun,” NASA said. “Astronomers are uncertain about the composition of Kepler-69c, but its orbit of 242 days around a sun-like star resembles that of our neighboring planet Venus.”
In the past when astronomers found exoplanets — planets outside our solar system — they have not fit all the criteria that would make them right for life. Many planets are not in the habitable zone — where it’s not too hot and not too cold for liquid water. And until now, the handful of planets astronomers found in that ideal zone, were just too big. Those are likely to be gas balls like Neptune and that’s not suitable for life.
Similarly, the Earth-size planets that had been found weren’t in the right place near their stars, Borucki said.
In the Goldilocks game of looking for other planets like ours, the new discoveries, called Kepler-62-e and Kepler-62-f are just right. And they are fraternal twins. They circle the same star, an orange dwarf, and are next to each other — closer together than Earth and its neighbour Mars.
The planets are slightly wider than Earth, but not too big. Kepler-62-e is a bit warm, like a Hawaiian world, and Kepler-62-f is a bit chilly, more Alaskan, Borucki said.
“This is the first one where I’m thinking ‘Huh, Kepler-62-f really might have life on it,’” said study co-author David Charbonneau of Harvard. “This is a very important barrier that’s been crossed. Why wouldn’t it have life?”
Kepler is “the first NASA mission capable of finding Earth-size planets in or near the habitable zone, which is the range of distance from a star where the surface temperature of an orbiting planet might be suitable for liquid water.”
“The Kepler spacecraft has certainly turned out to be a rock star of science,” John Grunsfeld, associate administrator of the Science Mission Directorate at NASA Headquarters in Washington said in a release. “The discovery of these rocky planets in the habitable zone brings us a bit closer to finding a place like home. It is only a matter of time before we know if the galaxy is home to a multitude of planets like Earth, or if we are a rarity.”
The planets are 1,200 light years away. A light year is almost 6 trillion miles (nearly 10 trillion kilometres).
The planets circle a star that is 7 billion years old — about 2.5 billion years older than our sun.
“If there’s life at all on those planets, it must be very advanced,” said Borucki.
source: Kepler Planetary Discovery Live: What did NASA find? | News | National Post
NASA has unveiled new planetary results from its Kepler mission, and has found two very Earth-like planets and another which they term a “super Venus.”
“Two of the newly discovered planets orbit a star smaller and cooler than the sun. Kepler-62f is only 40% larger than Earth, making it the exoplanet closest to the size of our planet known in the habitable zone of another star,” NASA explains in a release. “Kepler-62f is likely to have a rocky composition. Kepler-62e, orbits on the inner edge of the habitable zone and is roughly 60% larger than Earth.”
The distant duo are the best candidates for habitable planets that astronomers have found so far, said William Borucki, the chief scientist for NASA’s Kepler telescope.
A planet in another system, Kepler-69, is a slightly less ideal candidate, though only compared to the other two.
“The third planet, Kepler-69c, is 70% larger than the size of Earth, and orbits in the habitable zone of a star similar to our sun,” NASA said. “Astronomers are uncertain about the composition of Kepler-69c, but its orbit of 242 days around a sun-like star resembles that of our neighboring planet Venus.”
In the past when astronomers found exoplanets — planets outside our solar system — they have not fit all the criteria that would make them right for life. Many planets are not in the habitable zone — where it’s not too hot and not too cold for liquid water. And until now, the handful of planets astronomers found in that ideal zone, were just too big. Those are likely to be gas balls like Neptune and that’s not suitable for life.
Similarly, the Earth-size planets that had been found weren’t in the right place near their stars, Borucki said.
In the Goldilocks game of looking for other planets like ours, the new discoveries, called Kepler-62-e and Kepler-62-f are just right. And they are fraternal twins. They circle the same star, an orange dwarf, and are next to each other — closer together than Earth and its neighbour Mars.
The planets are slightly wider than Earth, but not too big. Kepler-62-e is a bit warm, like a Hawaiian world, and Kepler-62-f is a bit chilly, more Alaskan, Borucki said.
“This is the first one where I’m thinking ‘Huh, Kepler-62-f really might have life on it,’” said study co-author David Charbonneau of Harvard. “This is a very important barrier that’s been crossed. Why wouldn’t it have life?”
Kepler is “the first NASA mission capable of finding Earth-size planets in or near the habitable zone, which is the range of distance from a star where the surface temperature of an orbiting planet might be suitable for liquid water.”
“The Kepler spacecraft has certainly turned out to be a rock star of science,” John Grunsfeld, associate administrator of the Science Mission Directorate at NASA Headquarters in Washington said in a release. “The discovery of these rocky planets in the habitable zone brings us a bit closer to finding a place like home. It is only a matter of time before we know if the galaxy is home to a multitude of planets like Earth, or if we are a rarity.”
The planets are 1,200 light years away. A light year is almost 6 trillion miles (nearly 10 trillion kilometres).
The planets circle a star that is 7 billion years old — about 2.5 billion years older than our sun.
“If there’s life at all on those planets, it must be very advanced,” said Borucki.
source: Kepler Planetary Discovery Live: What did NASA find? | News | National Post
