NASA has just made an announcement that they've confirmed a thousand extrasolar worlds and three of the latest are in their stars' habitable zones.
(Click the images above to enlarge.)
"Each result from the planet-hunting Kepler mission's treasure trove of data takes us another step closer to answering the question of whether we are alone in the Universe," said John Grunsfeld, associate administrator of NASA’s Science Mission Directorate at the agency’s headquarters in Washington. “The Kepler team and its science community continue to produce impressive results with the data from this venerable explorer."The planets were validated as part of a survey of more than 4,000 objects. In addition, 554 further candidates were added to the mission for study.
This is truly an amazing universe we live in. No longer are we bound by science fiction---we live in a universe with a cool grand in new, unexplored worlds!
Read NASA's statement for the full announcement.
Images: NASA
Yes!
ReplyDeleteStar Trek, and reality: 1
5th Grade Science Teacher: 0
The galaxy seems to be littered with planets of all sorts, some of which were not even imagined a decade or two ago. Rocky cores of helian worlds with their atmosphere blown away and gargantuan jovian worlds boiling as they brush thier star being but two examples. It's a big universe and we are just finally getting a good look at the local neighborhood.
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