KEPLER 22-b, THE FINAL FRONTIER?

LIFE ON A NEW PLANET...

Marion Pellicano Ambrose

Kepler -22b

Interested in moving to a new location? How about Kepler-22b? It’s a little far, about 600 light years away, but it may be worth the trip.

The Kepler observatory, launched by NASA in March of 2009 has been seeking earth sized alien planets in their sun’s habitable zone, where liquid water and maybe even life might exist. Yesterday, NASA announced that they have confirmed the discovery of its first alien world in its sun’s habitable zone. It’s just the right distance from that sun to allow liquid water to exist. This is Kepler-22b.

Kepler Space Observatory

Kepler-22b has a radius 2.4 times that of Earth and has roughly similar temperatures. IF the greenhouse effect works as it does on earth, the average surface temperature of Keppler-22b would be around 72 degrees Fahrenheit (22 degrees Celsius). Kepler -22b completes its orbit around its sun in 290 days.

The Kepler telescope, in its 16 months of operation, has discovered 2,326 potentially habitable planets. Now they’ve hit a home run with Kepler-22b. This brings scientists closer to identifying a planet like our own, and one that could support human life.