Scientists from NASA's Kepler mission peering into solar systems some 1,200 light-years away have uncovered three more supersized Earthlike planets located in the star's habitable zone.
The planets, all of which are bigger than the Earth, were named Kepler-62e, Kepler-62f, and Kepler 69c. Keper-62f is the smallest of the three, and stands in at around 40 percent larger than our planet. This, according to researchers, makes it the closest in size to the Earth out of all the known exoplanets in a star's habitable zone, which the solar sweet spot for liquid water.
"The discovery of these rocky planets in the habitable zone brings us a bit closer to finding a place like home. It is only a matter of time before we know if the galaxy is home to a multitude of planets like Earth, or if we are a rarity," said NASA's John Grunsfeld.
Kepler-62e is 60 percent larger than Earth, and Kepler-69c is 70 percent larger than Earth and follows a Venus-esque 242 orbit cycle around its star. The findings were published in two studies, one in Science, and one in The Astrophysical Journal.
Kepler is "NASA's first mission capable of finding Earth-size and smaller planets around other stars," according to NASA's mission statement. The spacefcraft is constantly monitoring the brightness levels of over 150,000 stars in the sky, watching for that crucial moment when a planet passes in front of it causing a slight dimness. Scientists can then use the transit observations to calculate the planet's size and determine its distance from the star.
"The Kepler spacecraft has certainly turned out to be a rock star of science," said Grunsfeld,
"The detection and confirmation of planets is an enormously collaborative effort of talent and resources, and requires expertise from across the scientific community to produce these tremendous results," said Kepler scientist and author on the Kepler-62 paper William Borucki. "Kepler has brought a resurgence of astronomical discoveries and we are making excellent progress toward determining if planets like ours are the exception or the rule."
You can read the Kepler-62 paper in the journal Science.
You can read the Kepler-69 paper in The Astrophysical Journal.