I think the NASA Program needs continued funding.
Bravo for The European, Chinese, and Japanese Programs.
Bravo to Richard Branson and Virgin Galactic!
Earth Like Twin Confirmed by Astronomers
5 December 2011 Last updated at 12:50 ET
It is the closest confirmed planet yet to one like ours - an "Earth 2.0".
However, the team does not yet know if Kepler 22-b is made mostly of rock, gas or liquid.
During the conference at which the result was announced, the Kepler team said that it had spotted some 1,094 new candidate planets.
The Kepler space telescope was designed to look at a fixed swathe of the night sky, staring intently at about 150,000 stars. The telescope is sensitive enough to see when a planet passes in front of its host star, dimming the star's light by a minuscule amount.
Kepler identifies these slight changes in starlight as candidate planets, which are then confirmed by further observations by Kepler and other telescopes in orbit and on Earth.
The planet, Kepler 22-b, lies about 600 light-years away and is about 2.4 times the size of Earth, and has a temperature of about 22C.
It is the closest confirmed planet yet to one like ours - an "Earth 2.0".
However, the team does not yet know if Kepler 22-b is made mostly of rock, gas or liquid.
During the conference at which the result was announced, the Kepler team said that it had spotted some 1,094 new candidate planets.
The Kepler space telescope was designed to look at a fixed swathe of the night sky, staring intently at about 150,000 stars. The telescope is sensitive enough to see when a planet passes in front of its host star, dimming the star's light by a minuscule amount.
Kepler identifies these slight changes in starlight as candidate planets, which are then confirmed by further observations by Kepler and other telescopes in orbit and on Earth.
Kepler 22-b lies at a distance from its sun about 15% less than the distance from the Earth to the Sun, and its year takes about 290 days. However, its sun puts out about 25% less light, keeping the planet at its balmy temperature that would support the existence of liquid water.
The Kepler team had to wait for three passes of the planet before upping its status from "candidate" to "confirmed".
"Fortune smiled upon us with the detection of this planet," said William Borucki, Kepler principal investigator at Nasa's Ames Research Center.
"The first transit was captured just three days after we declared the spacecraft operationally ready. We witnessed the defining third transit over the 2010 holiday season."
The results were announced at the Kepler telescope's first science conference, alongside the staggering number of new candidate planets. The total number of candidates spotted by the telescope is now 2,326 - of which 207 are approximately Earth-sized.
In total, the results suggest that planets ranging from Earth-sized to about four times Earth's size - so-called "super-Earths" - may be more common than previously thought.
Kepler 22-b: Earth-like planet confirmed
The planet lies about 15% closer to its star than the Earth is to the Sun
Astronomers have confirmed the existence of an Earth-like planet in the "habitable zone" around a star not unlike our own.
The planet, Kepler 22-b, lies about 600 light-years away and is about 2.4 times the size of Earth, and has a temperature of about 22C.It is the closest confirmed planet yet to one like ours - an "Earth 2.0".
However, the team does not yet know if Kepler 22-b is made mostly of rock, gas or liquid.
During the conference at which the result was announced, the Kepler team said that it had spotted some 1,094 new candidate planets.
The Kepler space telescope was designed to look at a fixed swathe of the night sky, staring intently at about 150,000 stars. The telescope is sensitive enough to see when a planet passes in front of its host star, dimming the star's light by a minuscule amount.
Kepler identifies these slight changes in starlight as candidate planets, which are then confirmed by further observations by Kepler and other telescopes in orbit and on Earth.
The planet, Kepler 22-b, lies about 600 light-years away and is about 2.4 times the size of Earth, and has a temperature of about 22C.
It is the closest confirmed planet yet to one like ours - an "Earth 2.0".
However, the team does not yet know if Kepler 22-b is made mostly of rock, gas or liquid.
During the conference at which the result was announced, the Kepler team said that it had spotted some 1,094 new candidate planets.
The Kepler space telescope was designed to look at a fixed swathe of the night sky, staring intently at about 150,000 stars. The telescope is sensitive enough to see when a planet passes in front of its host star, dimming the star's light by a minuscule amount.
Kepler identifies these slight changes in starlight as candidate planets, which are then confirmed by further observations by Kepler and other telescopes in orbit and on Earth.
Kepler Space Telescope
- Stares fixedly at a patch corresponding to 1/400th of the sky
- Looks at more than 155,000 stars
- Has so far found 2,326 candidate planets
- Among them are 207 Earth-sized planets, 10 of which are in the "habitable zone" where liquid water can exist
Kepler 22-b was one of 54 candidates reported by the Kepler team in February, and is just the first to be formally confirmed using other telescopes.
More of these "Earth 2.0" candidates are likely to be confirmed in the near future, though a redefinition of the habitable zone's boundaries has brought that number down to 48.Kepler 22-b lies at a distance from its sun about 15% less than the distance from the Earth to the Sun, and its year takes about 290 days. However, its sun puts out about 25% less light, keeping the planet at its balmy temperature that would support the existence of liquid water.
The Kepler team had to wait for three passes of the planet before upping its status from "candidate" to "confirmed".
"Fortune smiled upon us with the detection of this planet," said William Borucki, Kepler principal investigator at Nasa's Ames Research Center.
"The first transit was captured just three days after we declared the spacecraft operationally ready. We witnessed the defining third transit over the 2010 holiday season."
The results were announced at the Kepler telescope's first science conference, alongside the staggering number of new candidate planets. The total number of candidates spotted by the telescope is now 2,326 - of which 207 are approximately Earth-sized.
In total, the results suggest that planets ranging from Earth-sized to about four times Earth's size - so-called "super-Earths" - may be more common than previously thought.
Related Stories
From other news sites
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CNET News Earth-like planet found in distant sun's habitable zone 1 hr ago
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USA Today NASA discovers Earth-like planet 3 hrs ago
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Reuters UK Planet found orbiting habitable zone of sun-like star 3 hrs ago
-
New Scientist Smallest habitable world around sun-like star found 5 hrs ago
-
Yahoo! UK and Ireland NASA confirms 'super-Earth' that could hold life 6 hrs ago
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Beautiful Video of the view of Earth, as a small blue light in the distance!
The Pale Blue Dot: The picture of Earth from 4 billion miles away. As told by Carl Sagan through some my favorite films set to the music of Mogwai.
http://palebluefilms.com/?p=11
Edit: I've had some requests for subtitles from people abroad. I hope the English subtitles help a few more people understand the narration. Please feel free to translate the subtitles into your native language.
http://subtitle.in/w/
Chinese Subtitles (thanks to wedgewu):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?
Korean Subtitles (courtesy wittjess)
http://www.mncast.com/?5822428
Estonian Subtitles (courtesy AinEstonia)
www.youtube.com/watch?v=
Spanish Subtitles (courtesy codigovenezuelavideo)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?
German Subtitles (courtesy s4ndwichMakeR)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?
http://palebluefilms.com/?p=11
Edit: I've had some requests for subtitles from people abroad. I hope the English subtitles help a few more people understand the narration. Please feel free to translate the subtitles into your native language.
http://subtitle.in/w/
Chinese Subtitles (thanks to wedgewu):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?
Korean Subtitles (courtesy wittjess)
http://www.mncast.com/?5822428
Estonian Subtitles (courtesy AinEstonia)
www.youtube.com/watch?v=
Spanish Subtitles (courtesy codigovenezuelavideo)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?
German Subtitles (courtesy s4ndwichMakeR)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?
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