Astronomers have discovered a planet about the size of Earth, orbiting its star in the zone where oceans of liquid water would be possible.
Full Story: Found! First Earth-Size Planet That Could Potentially Support Life
A study of the newly-found planet indicates it could have an Earth-like atmosphere and water at its surface. The planet Kepler-186f is the fifth planet of the star Kepler-186, 490 light-years away.
The planet has 1.11 times the Earth's mass. Its radius is 1.1 times that of Earth. Kepler-186f orbits at 32.5 million miles (52.4 million kilometers) from its parent star. Its year is 130 Earth days.
Earth-Size Planet Kepler-186f, a Possibly Habitable Alien World (Gallery)
The planet orbits Kepler-186, an M-type dwarf star less than half as massive as the sun. Because the star is cooler than the sun, the planet receives solar energy less intense than that received by Mars in our solar system, despite the fact that Kepler-186f orbits much closer to its star.
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