An international team of scientists announced the discovery of 104 more exoplanets beyond our solar system, including 4 that could potentially have Earth-like surfaces.
These exoplanets were identified with the invaluable assistance of space telescopes like NASA’s Kepler, as well as ground-based telescopes, including 4 located on Mauna Kea, Hawaii.
Astronomer Evan Sinukoff from the University of Hawaii noted the remarkable diversity among the newly discovered planets. Many of them are double the size of Earth, orbiting very close to their host stars, with temperatures exceeding 1,000 degrees Celsius.
Among the newly found exoplanets, 21 lie within the habitable zone—far enough from their host stars for water to exist in liquid form and potentially support life. Four of these rocky planets, larger than Earth by 20-50%, orbit closely within the same star system at a distance of 400 light-years from Earth.
Due to the lower temperature of the host star system, scientists believe that two of these planets might have Earth-like temperatures, despite their shorter orbits.
The Kepler space telescope continues its continuous observation of 150,000 stars that could harbor orbiting planets. Valued at USD 600 million and launched into space in March 2009, Kepler was NASA’s pioneering telescope designed to search for Earth-sized or Earth-like planets outside our solar system by measuring changes in a host star’s brightness when a planet passes in front of it.
Over the course of its mission, Kepler has discovered 2,326 exoplanets to date. By observing these exoplanets, NASA scientists hope to gather critical data for research and the search for extraterrestrial life.
As of now, scientists have identified nearly 5,000 exoplanets, with 3,200 of them confirmed.