News Science In astonishing discovery, NASA finds 20 planets besides Earth that may hold life

In astonishing discovery, NASA finds 20 planets besides Earth that may hold life

Scientists have found that there are 20 new planets, others than the Earth, that are orbiting a sun and could support life.

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Scientists have found that there are 20 new planets, others than the Earth, that are orbiting a sun and could support life.

Data from the Kepler telescope has revealed that among these 20 planets, there is a planet KOI-7923.0 much like Earth which takes 395 days to complete one revolution around its star. Even, the climate on it is similar to that of the Arctic Tundra on Earth.

KOI-7923.0 is an exoplanet similar to the size of the Earth but a bit colder, say scientists. However, it is still warm enough to have liquid water, thus opening up the possibility of holding life.

Many of the 20 planets have similar year cycles as Earth, avoiding the problem of “short years” which are often unfavourable to other planets. 

Kepler scientists, led by Jeff Kaflin, are convinced that the planets are rocky. This can only be confirmed with additional observations. However, the Kepler telescope is damaged and is no longer possible to clearly see with it.     

Earlier this year also, the Kepler telescope had detected 219 new exoplanets, of which 10 could be habitable. NASA's Ames Research Center has stated that there are about 4,034 planets in our galaxy that are worthy to be observed.