Quote:
Originally Posted by troutman
NASA finds planet that could sustain life
Found orbiting habitable zone of sun-like star
http://cnews.canoe.ca/CNEWS/Science/.../19074016.html
The most Earth-like planet ever discovered is circling a star 600 light years away, a key finding in an ongoing quest to learn if life exists beyond Earth, scientists said on Monday.
The planet, called Kepler-22b, joins a list of more than 500 planets found to orbit stars beyond our solar system. It is the smallest and the best positioned to have liquid water on its surface -- among the ingredients necessary for life on Earth.
"We are homing in on the true Earth-sized, habitable planets," said San Jose State University astronomer Natalie Batalha, deputy science team lead for NASA's Kepler Space Telescope that discovered the star.
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There was a great Nova Science Now that featured scientists looking for habitable planets and how they go about their search:
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/space/h...en-earths.html