Kepler space telescope finds planet similar to Earth again

NASA has announced that its Kepler space telescope has discovered a planet with properties similar to those of Earth. Named Kepler-452b, the planet is 60 percent larger than Earth.

The American space agency announced this during a press conference on Thursday evening. Kepler-452b is about 1,400 light-years away from Earth and in “habitable” orbit around its star. That is, the orbit in which Kepler-452b orbits its star provides temperatures that could potentially accommodate liquid water, a key requirement for life as we know it. Further research is needed to determine whether the planet actually harbors liquid water. According to NASA, the so-called exoplanet, or a planet that orbits a star other than our sun, is the most ‘Earth-like’ of all specimens found so far.

The star that the newly discovered exoplanet orbits is about the same size as our sun, but much older. According to NASA, its estimated age is about one and a half billion years higher than the 4.5 billion years of our sun. Scientists point out that Kepler-452b, which probably consists mainly of stone, can therefore provide a glimpse into the future of the earth. The exoplanet is also interesting because of its size: Kepler-452b is 60 percent larger than Earth, making it the smallest Earth-like exoplanet discovered to date.

Kepler-452b is the first confirmed planet found in a data set for ‘candidate’ planets. In total, there are still data from 500 potential exoplanets available that will be further investigated. Kepler has discovered more than 1,000 exoplanets since its launch in 2009, with thousands more expected.

Kepler also discovered several exoplanets that have interesting properties for the development of life. The space telescope is actually already in its second life, having previously had to use a ‘trick’ due to balance problems. The new mission, dubbed K2, has been underway since last year, and earlier this year resulted in the discovery of a planet similar to Earth.