NASA scientists say they have found perhaps the most Earth-like planet ever discovered. The planet, Kepler-452b, is 1,400 lightyears away from Earth, but its orbit is strikingly similar to our own planet’s. It is roughly as far from the star that it orbits as the Earth is from the Sun. That puts Kepler 452b within its star’s “habitable zone,” the distance at which a planet could contain liquid water—and, thus, life.
“On the 20th anniversary year of the discovery that proved other suns host planets, the Kepler exoplanet explorer has discovered a planet and star which most closely resemble the Earth and our Sun,” said John Grunsfeld, head of NASA’s Science Mission Directorate, in a press release. “This exciting result brings us one step closer to finding an Earth 2.0.”
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