OPINION: Why discovering new Earth-like planets mattersīefore its launch, astronomers had hoped that the frequency of Earth-like planets would be about one percent of the stars. Kepler is the first space telescope capable of finding Earth-sized planets in or near the habitable zone. Of those, 2,335 have been confirmed to be exoplanets. It includes 4,034 planet candidates identified by Kepler. NASA said this was the eighth release of the survey and the most comprehensive and detailed so far. “It implies that Earth-size planets in the habitable zone around sun-like stars are not rare,” Harvard astronomer Avi Loeb, who was not part of the work, told the Associated Press news agency in an email. Outside scientists agreed that this is a boost in the hope for life elsewhere. WATCH: NASA – Saturn’s moon could sustain life (1:57) “Are we alone? Maybe Kepler, today, has told us indirectly, although we need confirmation, that we are probably not alone,” Kepler scientist Mario Perez said in a news conference. That does not mean the planets have life, but some of the most basic requirements that life needs are there. #ICYMI: Earlier, we identified 219 potential new worlds from data, ten of which are near-Earth size: /1bEFpXcrBy ![]() ![]() Ten of the new discoveries were orbiting their suns at a distance similar to Earth’s orbit around the sun, the so-called habitable zone – meaning surface temperatures could support liquid water and, hypothetically, life. Keep reading list of 4 items list 1 of 4 NASA set to deliver biggest asteroid sample yet: What you need to know list 2 of 4 Russian Soyuz with 2 cosmonauts, US astronaut docks at Int’l Space Station list 3 of 4 China sees ‘Cold War mentality’ in US-Vietnam pact, Vietnamese disagree list 4 of 4 NASA appoints director to lead UFO research, urges science-based approach end of list
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