NASA has found a planet, Kepler-452b, beyond the solar system that is a close match to Earth using the
powerful Kepler telescope.
Scientists are calling Kepler-452bas Earth's bigger and older cousin. "We can think of Kepler-452b as an older, bigger cousin to Earth, providing an opportunity to understand and reflect upon Earth’s evolving environment," said Jon Jenkins, in a press release, who is the Kepler data analysis lead at NASA's Ames Research Centre in Moffett Field, California, who led the team that discovered Kepler-452b.
Here's all you need to know about Earth's cousin:
- The Kepler-452b system is located 1,400 light-years away in the constellation Cygnus
- Kepler-452b is the smallest planet discovered orbiting in the habitable zone
- It considered a super-Earth-size planet, as it is 60% larger in diameter
- Because it is farther from its parent star Kepler-452 than Earth is from the Sun, its 385-day orbit is only 5% longer
- Kepler-452b is 6 billion years old, making it 1.5 billion years older than our sun
- It has the same temperature, and is 20% brighter and has a diameter 10% larger
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