Earth-Like Planet Discovered

Looks like life beyond Earth may not be so far off after all—just 600 light-years. Astronomers have discovered an Earth-like planet outside our solar system, called Kepler 22b. It is big enough and far enough away from its own star to be considered “habitable,” and is considered the “Goldilocks” of a five-year search for a planet that is the right temperature to maintain oceans on its surface, such as Earth. “This is a phenomenal discovery in the course of human history,” said one Kepler investigator. The planet “is the smallest, most nearly Earth-size planet ever found in the lukewarm zone around another sun where life could thrive.”