WASHINGTON: It has been reported that researchers have found an Earth-like planet that is circling a sun-like star. But it gets only about a third of the energy from its star as Earth does from the sun, and noon there would look similar to the evening sky here, NASA says.
Kepler 425b, for instance, is approximately 60 percent larger in radius than the planet we call home (granted, scientists are still having difficulties accurately measuring this exoplanet as it lies over 1,400 light years away).
“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”, says Jon Jenkins at NASA’s Ames Research Center in Moffett Field, California, leader of the group that discovered the exoplanet. Based on the assumptions of planetary geologists, the atmosphere would likely be thicker than Earths, in the presence of active volcanoes.
The announcement of Kepler-452b has given hope to space enthusiasts that there may be several other habitable planets near Earth that are easier to study and reach.
John Grunsfeld, associate administrator for NASA’s science mission directorate, commented that maybe in the distant future, human beings has the capacity to build technology to journey out into the galaxy and begin exploring billions of worlds hidden among the stars.
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