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Kepler 22b: NASA confirms 'super-Earth' that could hold life
In another step toward finding Earth-like planets that may hold life, NASA said that the Kepler space telescope has confirmed its first-ever planet in a habitable zone outside our solar system.
December 06, 2011
(TIMES OF INDIA) Washington -- French astronomers earlier this year confirmed the first rocky exoplanet to meet key requirements for sustaining life. But Kepler-22b, initially glimpsed in 2009, is the first the US space agency has been able to confirm.
Confirmation means that astronomers have seen it crossing in front of its star three times. But it doesn't mean that astronomers know whether life actually exists there, simply that the conditions are right.
Such planets have the right distance from their star to support water, plus a suitable temperature and atmosphere to support life.