NASAScientists are claiming to have found an Earth-like planet that could very well have the conditions suitable for life.
The planet, which is about 40 per cent larger than Earth has been given the catchy name Kepler 62f, reports The Independent.
Apparently it’s the outermost of five planets circling a star that is slightly smaller and cooler than our sun, and computer simulations suggest it could be habitable by humans.
WikimediaAround 2,300 ‘exoplanets’ have been identified outside the solar system, but of those only about 25 are located in the ‘habitable zones’ around stars and could be capable of supporting life.
There is a tiny snag with Kepler 62f though – it’s roughly 1,200 light years away. A distance that – if you travelled at 200 mph – would take about three trillion years to cover.
Which is actually longer than the Earth has left before it’s swallowed by the sun.
As well as that, Kepler 62f would need a thick layer of carbon dioxide in its atmosphere to keep water from freezing – but if we got there we could probably take care of that…
Lead scientist Dr Aomawa Shields, from the University of California at Los Angeles, told The Independent:
We found there are multiple atmospheric compositions that allow it to be warm enough to have surface liquid water.
This makes it a strong candidate for a habitable planet.
Well, we better get moving then!
