Life Beyond Earth? There’s Hope in Kepler 22-b

Nasa’s newly-dicsovered planet Kepler 22-b which is about 2.4 times the size of Earth is now the new target for possible life beyond Earth. For one, the planet which lies in the ‘Goldilocks zone’ is said to have a surface temperature of about 72 degrees or 22 Celsius.

‘Goldilocks zone’ refers to the habitable zone or the region around a star where temperatures are neither too high nor too low for liquid water to exist.

Astronomers also believe that there’s water and land in the new planet though no one is sure yet if the planet is made mostly of rock, gas, or liquid.

The planet is 600 light-years away and orbits a star cooler than the Sun every 290 days.

William Borucki of NASA’s Ames Research Center and leader of the team that discovered Kepler 22-b revealed:

“If this planet has surface, it would have a very nice temperature of some 70 degrees Fahrenheit. There’s a good chance it could be rocky. We have no planets line this in our own solar system.”

Borucki even hinted that it could probably contain huge amounts of compressed ice and may even have a global ocean.

Douglas Hudgins, Kepler program scientist at Nasa Headquarters in Washington, added:

“This is a major milestone on the road to finding Earth’s twin. 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.”

So, while we wait, if ever we will get the chance to confirm whether Kepler 22-b can indeed be the next hope for life beyond Earth, why don’t we all settle down and take care of what we have now. Otherwise, we earthlings are not even worthy of having a chance on another planet.