The search for other Earth-like planets in the galaxy got a major boost with the discovery of hundreds of newfound alien planets identified by NASA’s Kepler spacecraft, a haul that includes 104 strange, new worlds that could potentially support life.
Scientists with NASA’s planet-hunting Kepler mission announced the discovery of 833 new planet candidates during a press conference Nov. 4, bringing the total number of candidate worlds to 3,538. Of the 104 planets in the habitable zone, 10 of them are about the size of Earth, scientists say.
“We’re opening a new era of exploration of our galaxy,” said William Borucki, Kepler science principal investigator at NASA’s Ames Research Center in Moffett Field, Calif., where scientists were discussing the latest exoplanet discoveries during the second Kepler Science Conference.
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