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„Earth 2.0” does exist!
NASA scientists for the first time managed to confirm the existence of extrasolar planets present in the so-called ecosphere – the zone around the star where there are favorable conditions for the emergence of life, such as liquid water.
A unique planet could be seen through the telescope Kepler (a space based observatory) whose one of the tasks is to search for Earth-like extrasolar planets.
- This is a milestone on our way to finding Earth’s twin sister, said excited Douglas Hudgins of NASA.
The planet has been called Kepler-22b, it is 600 light-years far from Earth in the zones bordering the Cygnus and Lyra constellations. It circles its primary Sun-like star with an orbital period of 290 days. So far it is impossible to determine whether it’s composed of rocks, gases, or liquids.
Image by NASA (Kepler-22b compared to Earth)
Kepler Space Telescope captures a new planet by measuring the decrease in brightness of 150 thousand stars. Such a decline in the star’s brightness means that probably there was a transit, or passage of one celestial body (e.g. a space planet) through the disc of a second celestial body (it can be a star) – said Ian Ridpath of the Royal Astronomical Society.
Researchers decide whether a celestial body qualifies as a planet when they witness three transits.
Astrophysicists have discovered over 1000 candidates for planets so far. 10 of them resemble Earth in their dimensions and circle around Sun-like bodies, which means that they are placed in the ecosphere; but all are waiting for confirmation of whether they are planets or not.
Read the full story about Kepler 22-b on the NASA website
Source: NASA, APTN
Tags: Earth-like planet, ecoshpere, extrasolar, Kepler -22b, liquid water, NASA
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If this is true, another earth to exploit by the people……We’re so adept doing that!