Although NASA’s Kepler space telescope is no longer functioning, astronomers examining the data it provided say they now have enough information to answer its main research question: How many of the 200 billion stars in our galaxy have habitable planets? The Kepler space telescope was launched in 2009 to look for planets outside the solar […]
‘ An intriguing new study that calculates the influence of cloud behavior on climate doubles the number of potentially habitable planets orbiting red dwarfs, the most common type of stars in the universe. Data from NASA’s Kepler Mission previously suggested there is approximately one Earth-size planet in the habitable zone of each red dwarf. The […]
Astronomers have announced that the star Gliese 667C in the constellation of Scorpius is likely orbited by between five and seven planets and three of those may be habitable. The planets are in the so-called “Goldilocks” zone around the star, where liquid water could exist. Only 22 light years distant, Gliese 667C is about one […]
A detailed analysis of the first three years of data from NASA’s Kepler mission, which already has discovered thousands of potential exoplanets, contains good news for those searching for habitable worlds outside our solar system. The findings, presented today at a session during the American Astronomical Society meeting, were compiled by a team of astronomers […]
Planet hunters from the University of California, Santa Cruz, and the Carnegie Institution of Washington have discovered an Earth-sized planet orbiting a nearby star at a distance that places it in the “Goldilocks zone” (the orbital zone conducive to harboring life), where liquid water could exist and human habitation might be possible. The new planet […]
