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Kepler Confirms Exoplanet Inside Star's Habitable Zone

Posted by Soulskill on from the book-your-vacation-early dept.

astroengine writes "Plenty of 'candidate' exoplanets exist, but for the first time, Kepler has confirmed the existence of an exoplanet orbiting its Sun-like star right in the middle of its 'habitable zone.' Kepler-22b is 2.4 times the radius of Earth and orbits its star every 290 days. 'This is a major milestone on the road to finding Earth's twin,' said Douglas Hudgins, Kepler program scientist at NASA Headquarters in Washington. 'Kepler's results continue to demonstrate the importance of NASA's science missions, which aim to answer some of the biggest questions about our place in the universe.'"

14 of 257 comments (clear)

  1. Silly artist's conceptions. by Samantha+Wright · · Score: 5, Funny

    Scientists don't yet know if Kepler-22b has a predominantly rocky, gaseous or liquid composition, but its discovery is a step closer to finding Earth-like planets.

    Sure they do! Just look at the picture right next to the article! Man, who gets paid to Photoshop these spheres in front of bits of nebulae all day? That must be an interesting job.

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    1. Re:Silly artist's conceptions. by NEDHead · · Score: 4, Funny

      Aren't they all reproductions from the covers of Analog?

    2. Re:Silly artist's conceptions. by fortapocalypse · · Score: 5, Funny

      Artist: "So what should this thing look like?"
      NASA engineer: "It's 600 light-years away. How the @#$% should I know!"
      Artist: "Picking a planet from an old Star Trek episode at random then."
      NASA engineer: "Ok. But no funny stuff. Save the stars, rainbows, and unicorns for your acid trips."
      Artist: "Nebulous clouds in the background- check."

  2. habitable maybe by Spy+Handler · · Score: 4, Funny

    but you wouldn't wanna spend your vacation there... big planet, heavy gravity... girls there are probably built like East European wrestlers with thunder thighs that could swat you like a fly.

    1. Re:habitable maybe by ColdWetDog · · Score: 5, Funny

      Did you have to Rule 34 the thread already?

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  3. Re:This just in... by Samantha+Wright · · Score: 3, Funny

    It's hard to see how their talents would apply. What are they going to do, lobby for c to be relaxed?

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  4. Oh the irony... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Funny

    ...to spend a ton of time, effort, and research to find Earths twin, only to find the race of carbon-based life forms living there has completely fucked up the entire planet by abusing its natural resources.

    "Well shit. NASA, you're not gonna believe this...we found alien life alright...and they're as fucked up as we are."

    1. Re:Oh the irony... by xero314 · · Score: 3, Funny

      Oh the irony to spend a ton of time, effort, and research to find Earths twin, only to find the race of carbon-based life forms living there has completely fucked up the entire planet by abusing its natural resources.

      That's pretty much how the inhabitants of the alien planet our going to feel when they discover us. Or maybe they already have, but are smart enough to stay away.

  5. Re:What do we do now? by Samantha+Wright · · Score: 4, Funny

    (Also, state the obvious to farm karma.)

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  6. Re:Habitable Planets by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0, Funny

    All the Christian Republicans will defund it before that happens.

  7. Re:Habitable Planets by c6gunner · · Score: 4, Funny

    And... how come we haven't heard from any other civilizations on any of those planets?

    They received a bunch of broadcasts containing our political debates, and concluded that there is no intelligent life on this planet.

  8. Re:Take that... by cowboy76Spain · · Score: 5, Funny

    I really hope we find the Earth evil twin. Surely it will be a world swamped by corruption, hunger, war and incompetence.

    Oh wait....

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  9. Re:Take that... by RasputinAXP · · Score: 5, Funny

    And wearing a goatee.

  10. Re:Take that... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

    I'm afraid WE'RE the evil twin, then.

    Have you looked at South America from space?