Kepler 22b New Planet Found

KEPLER- 22b

• Kepler-22b is the first confirmed extra solar planet found by NASA's Kepler Space Telescope to orbit within the habitable zone of a Sun-like star. 
• Kepler-22b, a possible super-Earth, is 600 light years away from Earth, in orbit around Kepler-22, a G-type star.
• The discovery was announced December 5, 2011.
• The average distance from Kepler-22b to its host star Kepler-22 is about 15% less than the distance from Earth to the Sun but the luminosity (light output) of Kepler-22 is about 25% less than that of the Sun.
• Even the fastest new horizons spacecraft, which is on its way to Pluto, would take over 6 million years to get there. 
• What makes it really exciting is that its about as far away from its star as the earth is from our sun. Its not so close to be super hot and its not so far to be cold and frozen.
•  It means that Kepler 22b is the first planet found where liquid water and even life might exist on its surface.

Posted in: astronomy, planet