Scientists have for the first time discovered an Earth-sized alien planet in the Goldilocks zone that may have liquid water and right conditions for life. Using NASA’s Kepler Space Telescope, astronomers discovered the 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, NASA said. While planets have previously been found in the habitable zone, they are all at least 40 per cent larger in size than Earth, and understanding their makeup is challenging. Kepler-186f is more reminiscent of Earth, researchers said.
“The discovery of Kepler-186f is a significant step towards finding worlds like our planet Earth,” said Paul Hertz, NASA’s Astrophysics Division director at the agency’s headquarters in Washington.