Cape Canaveral: It has been reported that a planet assumed to be remarkably similar to Earth was being discovered. Regarding the achievement, U.S. scientists said that the planet had been orbiting a distant sun-like star, creating hopes of life elsewhere in the universe. The planet, which locates 1400 light years away in the constellation Cygnus is assumed to be 60 percent bigger than Earth. The astronomers who discovered the planet using NASA’s Kepler space telescope said that it was circling an older sun like star having size and temperature almost similar to the sun. As per the Kepler telescopic analysis, the discovered planet requires a time-frame of 385 days to complete its orbit round the sun-like star where as earth takes 365 days to achieve this feat. Scientists are of the assumption that the surface temperature of the planet could be suitable for the existence of liquid water, as the distance between the sun-like star and the planet is almost similar to the earth’s distance from its sun. Hence, it has been assumed that there are high possibilities to have signs of life in the newly discovered planet. It was in the year 2009 that NASA launched Kepler Telescope to survey the nearby stars in an attempt to learn whether any planets similar to Earth are
existing in the galaxy. As per the telescopic technology, planets in the galaxy cannot be viewed directly. But it is capable to measure the changes in minutes, in terms of the light coming from the targeted stars. Sophisticated computer programs which can follow-up such observations with the assistance of ground-based telescopes are also capable to determine the light dips caused by such planets while passing in front of their parent stars. This is how their presence is traced out by the Kepler telescopes. Video on the newly discovered earth like planet
