NASA Finds Earth-Size Planet Candidates in Habitable Zone, Six Planet System

Science Daily ^ | 2-2-11 | NASA

[Red Badger]

NASA's Kepler mission has discovered its first Earth-size planet candidates and its first candidates in the habitable zone, a region where liquid water could exist on a planet's surface. Five of the potential planets are near Earth-size and orbit in the habitable zone of smaller, cooler stars than our sun.

Candidates require follow-up observations to verify they are actual planets. Kepler also found six confirmed planets orbiting a sun-like star, Kepler-11. This is the largest group of transiting planets orbiting a single star yet discovered outside our solar system.

"In one generation we have gone from extraterrestrial planets being a mainstay of science fiction, to the present, where Kepler has helped turn science fiction into today's reality," said NASA Administrator Charles Bolden. "These discoveries underscore the importance of NASA's science missions, which consistently increase understanding of our place in the cosmos."

The discoveries are part of several hundred new planet candidates identified in new Kepler mission science data, released on Feb. 1. The findings increase the number of planet candidates identified by Kepler to-date to 1,235. Of these, 68 are approximately Earth-size; 288 are super-Earth-size; 662 are Neptune-size; 165 are the size of Jupiter and 19 are larger than Jupiter.

[Red Badger]

[Army Air Corps]

Ping.

[fishtank]

How many of those planets will be claimed by Muslim scientists?

[FroggyTheGremlim]

None of them are the size of Uranus?

[muawiyah]

These are too cold for Temperate, Subtropic and Tropical zone human designs.

I think the Sa'ami and the Eskimo own these suckers!

[null and void]

What temperature range are they using for “liquid water”?

[cripplecreek]

Nice to see the more accurate term “Earth sized” used for once.

[blackdog]

Thank goodness I resisted exchanging my Quataloos for Euros’.

[cripplecreek]

More info here.

http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/kepler/news/kepler_data_release.html

[MrB]

So when is someone going to come out and say there’s a 100% likelihood of life on that planet,

like some jackwagon did last time?

[MrB]

Uranus spins sideways.

Really, it does - its axis of rotation is nearly in the plane of its orbit!

[billorites]

"NASA Finds Earth-Size Planet Candidates in Habitable Zone, Six Planet System"

Close to schools and shopping?

[WKUHilltopper]

“...a region where liquid water COULD exist on a planet’s surface.”

A Benihana’s COULD exist on the planet’s surface too. If you’re gonna use conjecture, make it good.

[aces]

There was a big sign saying Islam not allowed..find a hell hole near you..

[traditional1]

Aha....a Parallel Universe?

Let's have NASA send a scouting/fact-finding mission with the EPA, SEIU, AFSCME, UAW, DOE, Justice Department, and the White House occupants and staff immediately to reconoider......

[MNDude]

you realize that when NASA “finds” these things, they are not actually seeing them in a telescope. Their sensors detect a fluctuation in a star’s light wave that would be consistent to their predictions of one caused by a planet.

[Bringbackthedraft]

So who will be first to plant a flag on the planet and say it is ours? You know, like Columbus did when he discover new land with native inhabitants.

[antiRepublicrat]

No intelligent life found. Only liberal Democrats.

[gwilhelm56]

Can we send ALL the Liberals THERE????

[cripplecreek]

Also they can only detect objects orbiting the star on a plane with the telescope.