Today, NASA’s Kepler mission identified the first promising candidate of “Earth 2.0”, aka a planet that might be able to sustain life as we know it.
The exoplanet is approximately 60% larger than our Earth, and is called Kepler-452b (real catchy name). The exact mass and composition have yet to be determined, but research suggests that it is probably a rocky planet.
Courtesy of NASA/JPL-CalTech/T. Pyle
From NASA:
“We can think of Kepler-452b as an older, bigger cousin to Earth, providing an opportunity to understand and reflect upon Earth’s evolving environment,” said Jon Jenkins, Kepler data analysis lead.
With the discovery of Kepler-452b, we now have 1,030 confirmed planets, with 521 candidates to be planets. Of those 521, 9 have diameters similar to Earth and reside in the habitable zone of stars similar to our location in relation to the sun.