Telescope spies 'most Earth-like' worlds to date


The Kepler Telescope, world’s most advanced telescope up to date, has discovered two new planets in the Kepler 62 System, located in the Constellation Lyra. These new planets, called Kepler 62e and Kepler 62f have a prominent chance of housing liquid water. The two planets, at just a measly 1200 light years away, live in the habitable zone of their Sun. Who is a little smaller, colder and older than our own Sun. Scientists say that current telescopes are not advanced enough to see past the shimmer of light produced by the sun, but believe that in the very near future we will know more about these planets. Which are, up to date, the most ‘Earth-like’ planets outside our Solar System.

Excitement is one word that can be used to describe what was going through me when I read this article. These planets could be very similar to our own! Articles like this raise questions within me like ‘How long until we will be able to travel through space and the different solar systems?’ and ‘When will we first constitute a new society on a different planet?’ I hope I’ll live long enough to witness it. I am also curious as of how big the new telescope will have to be in order to detect liquid water on a planet 1200 light years away. The only thing we can do though is sit, wait, and hope for the best!








By Jonathan Amos Science correspondent, BBC News

19 April 2013 last updated at 01:26 GMT

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-22200476