NASA's Kepler Finds First Planet in Habitable Zone

Artist's rending of Kepler-22b

NASA's Kepler mission has just found its first planet to fall within the "habitable zone"; the region where liquid water could exist on a planet’s surface.  


The newly found planet, dubbed Kepler-22b, is located 600 light years away, orbiting a sun like star that is similar to our own.  Roughly two and half times the size of Earth, scientists have yet to find out if Kepler-22b has a primarily rocky, gassy or liquidy composition.  However, they say that the discovery is a step in the right direction on finding a planet similar to Earth.

"This is a major milestone on the road to finding Earth's twin," said Douglas Hudgins, Kepler program scientist at NASA Headquarters in Washington. "Kepler's results continue to demonstrate the importance of NASA's science missions, which aim to answer some of the biggest questions about our place in the universe."

Out of the 54 possible habitable zone planets reported in February 2011, Kepler-22b is the first to be confirmed - a milestone that will be published in The Astrophysical Journal.  


To find out more about Kepler-22b, check out NASA's press release in the source.


Image credit: NASA/Ames/JPL-Caltech
Source: NASA.gov