NASA has discovered a new planet named Kepler-186f in the Cygnus constellation. It is about 500 light years away from us. The planet is similar to Earth and the new planet appears to be in a habitable zone. Liquid water may also be present here.
There are about 40 billion Earth-like planets in our galaxy. But Kepler-186f is considered special. Because its properties seem like Earth. Its neighboring star is about the same size and mass as our Sun. So there is a good chance that the new planet could have life.
Elisa Quintana, a renowned NASA scientist, said that we are looking for planets like Earth because it is the only planet that has life and a habitable environment. Finding a planet like Kepler-186f is a big deal because it means we’re closer to finding more planets that could harbor life.
The star Kepler-186f is smaller than our Sun and consumes relatively less energy. Kepler-186f takes 130 days to orbit its star. There are four other planets close to this star.
Elisa Quintana, a research scientist at NASA’s Ames Research Center in Moffett Field, California, and lead author of the paper published in the journal Science, believes that searching for more Earth-like planets that have a favorable environment for life will certainly be possible.