HONG KONG: Astrophysicists at Nasa are expected to announce they have found new Earth-like worlds The science world is abuzz with anticipation after NASA announced to will hold a press conference on Thursday to announce ‘new discoveries’ from its Kepler mission, which is hunting for habitable planets in the Milky Way.
The Kepler spacecraft has been looking for signs of new worlds outside the Solar System since May 2009, and has so far found more than 4,000 planets in the so-called ‘Goldilocks Zone’ – neither too hot, nor too cold to sustain life.
Scientists are likely to announce they have found more potential worlds like Earth and maybe even a twin which orbits a very similar star to our Sun.
The discoveries give new hope that alien civilisations may exist beyond the Solar System. Earlier this week Professor Stephen Hawking and the Astronomer Royal Lord Martin Rees announced they were joining a $100 million project to seek out signs of extra-terrestrial intelligence in the Milky Way.
There is now clear evidence for huge numbers of nearby planets but many are uninhabitable gas giants or rocky Earth-like planets which are too near their stars to hold life.
Since liquid water is critical to life on Earth, many scientists believe the search for extra-terrestrial life should focus on planets where liquid water occurs.
The size of the planet also means it has enough gravity to pull in gases like hydrogen and helium to form an atmosphere.
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