Kepler Mission Discovers Bigger, Older Cousin to Earth

NASA | JULY 26, 2015

NASA's Kepler mission has confirmed the first near-Earth-size planet in the "habitable zone" around a sun-like star.

This artist's concept depicts one possible appearance of the planet Kepler-452b, the first near-Earth-size world to be found in the habitable zone of star that is similar to our sun. Image credit: NASA/Ames/JPL-Caltech

The newly discovered Kepler-452b is the smallest planet to date discovered orbiting in the habitable zone -- the area around a star where liquid water could pool on the surface of an orbiting planet -- of a G2-type star, like our sun. The confirmation of Kepler-452b brings the total number of confirmed planets to 1,030.

Kepler-452b has a diameter 60 percent larger than Earth and is considered a super-Earth-size planet. While its mass and composition are not yet determined, previous research suggests that planets the size of Kepler-452b have a good chance of being rocky.

While Kepler-452b is larger than Earth, its 385-day orbit is only 5 percent longer. The planet is 5 percent farther from its parent star, Kepler-452, than Earth is from the sun. Kepler-452 is 6 billion years old, 1.5 billion years older than our sun, has the same temperature, and is 20 percent brighter, with a diameter 10 percent larger.

The Kepler-452 system is located 1,400 light-years away in the constellation Cygnus.

YOU MAY ALSO LIKE

Curiosity Rover Team Confirms Ancient Lakes on Mars

A new study from the team behind NASA's Mars Science Laboratory/Curiosity has confirmed that Mars was once, billions of years ago, capable of storing water in lakes over an extended period of time.

"Russian Doll" Galaxy Clusters Reveal Information About Dark Energy

Astronomers have used data from NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory, ESA’s Planck and a large list of optical telescopes to develop a powerful new method for investigating dark energy, the mysterious energy that is currently driving the accelerating expansion of the universe.

At Saturn, One of These Rings is not like the Others

In a recent study, a team of Cassini scientists reported that one section of the rings appears to have been running a slight fever during equinox. The higher-than-expected temperature provided a unique window into the interior structure of ring particles not usually available to scientists.

Saturn is Losing Its Rings

New NASA research confirms that Saturn is losing its iconic rings at the maximum rate estimated from Voyager 1 & 2 observations made decades ago. The rings are being pulled into Saturn by gravity as a dusty rain of ice particles under the influence of Saturn’s magnetic field.

'Oumuamua interstellar object was not an alien spacecraft

The first known interstellar object to visit our solar system was discovered on Oct. 19, 2017, by the Panoramic Survey Telescope and Rapid Response System 1 Telescope located at the University of Hawaii’s Haleakala Observatory.

Pluto’s Big Moon Charon Reveals a Colorful and Violent History

New Horizons spacecraft has returned the best color and the highest resolution images yet of Pluto’s largest moon, Charon – and these pictures show a surprisingly complex and violent history.