NASA Telescope Confirms Alien Planet in So-called 'Goldilocks Zone'

Tuesday, December 06, 2011

NASA Telescope Confirms Alien Planet in So-called 'Goldilocks Zone'

NASA/ Ames/JPL-Caltech: Artist's Conception of Kepler-22b

By Mike wall
Space.com
12-5-11

MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif. — NASA's planet-hunting Kepler spacecraft has confirmed the discovery of its first alien world in its host star's habitable zone — that just-right range of distances that could allow liquid water to exist — and found more than 1,000 new explanet candidates, researchers announced today (Dec. 5).

The new finds bring the Kepler space telescope's total haul to 2,326 potential planets in its first 16 months of operation.These discoveries, if confirmed, would quadruple the current tally of worlds known to exist beyond our solar system, which recently topped 700.

The potentially habitable alien world, a first for Kepler, orbits a star very much like our own sun. The discovery brings scientists one step closer to finding a planet like our own — one which could conceivably harbor life, scientists said.