For GSS A Changing Cosmos chapter 8. Excerpt: Using NASA's Kepler Space Telescope, astronomers have discovered the
first Earth-size planet orbiting a star in the "habitable zone" -- the
range of distance from a star where liquid water might pool on the
surface of an orbiting planet. The discovery of Kepler-186f confirms
that planets the size of Earth exist in the habitable zone of stars
other than our sun. While planets have previously been found in the habitable zone, they are
all at least 40 percent larger in size than Earth and understanding
their makeup is challenging. Kepler-186f is more reminiscent of Earth. "The
discovery of Kepler-186f is a significant step toward finding worlds
like our planet Earth," said Paul Hertz, NASA's Astrophysics Division
director at the agency's headquarters in Washington. "Future NASA
missions, like the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite and the James
Webb Space Telescope, will discover the nearest rocky exoplanets and
determine their composition and atmospheric conditions, continuing
humankind's quest to find truly Earth-like worlds." http://kepler.nasa.gov/news/nasakeplernews/index.cfm?FuseAction=ShowNews&NewsID=330. By NASA Kepler mission. See NASA RELEASE 14-111. See also: http://kepler.nasa.gov/news/keplerinthenews/index.cfm?FuseAction=ShowNews&NewsID=332. |
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