According to NASA, a planet resembling Earth was discovered orbiting in a
relatively nearby star within our Milky Way galaxy. They believe that
it could contain life.
This Earth-sized planet, known as Kepler-186f, is the first to be
found within the so-called Goldilocks (not too hot, not too cold Juuuust
nice) or habitable zone, where the conditions are just right in terms
of the balance between atmospheric pressure and temperature for water
to exist as a liquid.
Although it has been estimated that at least 40 billion Earth-sized
planets orbit within the Milky Way, this discovery was the needle in the
haystack that seems to indicate that Earth may not be unique.
Also known is the fact that four other planets also orbit its star.
Should the star prove to be similar in terms of size and properties to
our own sun, it becomes increasingly likely that life could be found on
the planet.
“We know of just one planet where life exists – Earth. When we search
for life outside our solar system we focus on finding planets with
characteristics that mimic that of Earth,” said Elisa Quintana, research
scientist at the SETI Institute at NASA’s Ames Research Center in
Moffett Field, Calif., and lead author of the paper published today in
the journal Science. “Finding a habitable zone planet comparable to
Earth in size is a major step forward.”
Unfortunately, the star it orbits is only half the mass of our sun
and the planet would only receive a third of the energy that we receive
from our own sun. Further, its orbit takes about 130 days, about a third
of ours.
source: anonhq