Hunting for Earth 2.0: NASA finds 715 new planets
NASA today announced the discovery of 715 planets orbiting 305 stars, revealing multi-planet systems much like our own solar system.
Four of these newly verified planets are in their sun's habitable zone, a distance from a star where the temperature is conducive to the planet's having water in liquid form. With water, it's possible these four planets could potentially hold life.
"This is the largest windfall of planets that's ever been announced at one time," said Douglas Hudgins, NASA's exoplanet exploration program scientist. "Planetary systems, with planets orbiting a star like our own, are in fact common. There are an abundance of habitable Earth-sized planets. Our goal is to find Earth 2.0 -- an Earth-like planet that could hold life."
