Two new Earth-like planets orbiting Sun-like star found

Washington: Scientists have discovered two Earth-like planets in the habitable orbit of a Sun-like star.

Using observations gathered by NASA`s Kepler Mission , the team, led by William Borucki of the NASA Ames Research Center, found five planets orbiting a Sun-like star called Kepler-62.

Four of these planets are so-called super-Earths, larger than our own planet, but smaller than even the smallest ice giant planet in our Solar System. These new super-Earths have radii of 1.3, 1.4, 1.6, and 1.9 times that of Earth. In addition, one of the five was a roughly Mars-sized planet, half the size of Earth.

Kepler-62 is one of about 170,000 stars observed by the Kepler Space Telescope, with a mass about 69 percent of that of our Sun. The Kepler Space Telescope reveals for planets orbiting a star by detecting a small, temporary dimming of the star as a planet passes between it and the telescope.

The two super-Earths with radii of 1.4 and 1.6 Earth radii orbit their star at distances where they receive about 41 percent and 120 percent, respectively, of the warmth from their star that the Earth receives from the Sun. The planets are thus in the star`s habitable zone; they have the right temperatures to maintain liquid water on their surfaces and are theoretically hospitable to life. Theoretical modeling of the super-Earth planets, Kepler-62e and Kepler-62f, suggests that both could be solid, either rocky-or rocky with frozen water.

"This appears to be the best example our team has found yet of Earth-like planets in the habitable zone of a Sun-like star," said Carnegie`s Alan Boss.
The finding has been published in Science Express.
ANI