Cover image via wired
After NASA's New Horizons spacecraft returned with images of Pluto last week, the US government agency has made yet another remarkable discovery
The image was posted on NASA's Instagram page last Wednesday, 14 July.
NASA announced on Twitter it had found a planet that shares similar characteristics to Earth, calling it Earth's older cousin
Dubbed "Kepler-425b", the planet shares a similar size to Earth and is in the zone of the star it orbits that would allow it to have water on its surface. However, NASA still can't confirm if it has both water and air.
Image via Kepler mission
Kepler-452b orbits around a parent star which belongs to the same class as the Sun, making it bigger and brighter. The planet takes 385 days to complete around a star, so its orbital period is 20 days more than the Earth's.
The planet was discovered as part of Kepler mission, which aims to look for sustainable and habitable planets in the Milky Way. Kepler has found over 4,000 planets in a period of six years.
Before the discovery of Kepler-425b, one called Kepler-186f was considered as having the most Earth-like attributes
Image via phl
