Astronomers hunting for another Earth have found the closest match yet, a potentially rocky planet circling its star at the same distance as the Earth orbits the Sun, NASA has said.

Named Kepler 452b, the planet is about 60 percent larger than Earth. It could have active volcanoes, oceans and sunshine like ours, twice as much gravity and a year that lasts 385 days, scientists said on Thursday.

“Today we are announcing the discovery of an exoplanet that, as far we can tell, is a pretty good close cousin to the Earth and our Sun,” said John Grunsfeld, associate administrator for NASA’s Science Mission Directorate in Washington.

“This is about the closest so far, and I really emphasize the ‘so-far,'” he added, describing Kepler 452b as “the closest twin,” or “Earth 2.0.”

The planet was detected by the US space agency’s Kepler Space Telescope, which has been hunting for other worlds like ours since 2009.


This planet sits squarely in the Goldilocks zone – where life could exist because it is neither too hot nor too cold to support liquid water, the US space agency said.

“Today the Earth is a little less lonely,” said Jon Jenkins, Kepler data analysis lead scientist at NASA’s Ames Research Center in Moffett Field, California.

Kepler 452b’s star is 1.5 billion years older, four percent more massive and 10 percent brighter than our sun.

Teempakguy:
With twice the gravity, I would not call it an earth twin.

witnezHD:
how much is a plot of land there? ;Dhow much is a plot of land there?

Cutehector:
so wat would u suggest the atmosphere of d earth twin would be?

Teempakguy:
it most certainly would contain a lot more hydrogen, noble gases, and oxygen. The atmospheric pressure will be very strong.
Also, acceleration due to gravity will be quite high. Although, this maybe balanced by the thick atmosphere.

Also, everything will be twice as heavy. A mere book might weigh as much as a full grown cat.

Not quite the earth twin.

Cutehector:
so dat means, if a rocket enters d planet, within minutes, its already on d ground? Ryt?

Teempakguy:
like I said earlier, the acceleration due to gravity will be balanced by the thick atmosphere. The terminal velocity will be the same as it is on earth.

The effects of the strong gravity will only be felt by ground based objects. Such as the human muscle, or cars.

Cutehector:
lol... Dah means, to waka fast na problem.. U need to chop akpu wella to move... Everytn na na by force...

Teempakguy:
exactly.

johnydon22:
It has joined the list of exo planets with possible life within it...

Teempakguy:
they would have to possess rather strong support systems.

Teempakguy:
exactly.

Booyakasha:

you've got some good points bro, but you have to remember some biological factors here, okay, imagine my parents giving birth to me and throwing me to a planet with 50x earth's gravitational force present but has support for human life, what the heck do you think will happen mate? i'll adapt, although i'll be or maybe very short in height but i will have the strength of 50 men if not 100, when i return to earth, and i will move freely as if i was in earth, provided human life support is available, what if i build a family on that planet and stay there for 1,000yrs? we will have the power to take over earth... it's basic science man, and don't talk about human genetics, DNA is just like a computer program (code) and luckily it was designed to learn and adapt. btw, i saw your post some where in the boards where you posted about how you wanted to study comp.sci, join www.gdevit.com,
i might make you a mod in science section if you want

Teempakguy:

Lovely site! I think I just hit the jack pot.
Meh, I could probably be a mod . . . but that would have to be next year, if the space is still open. This year, I have to study for exams . . . admission palaver.
But you can bet that till then, I will be a VERY active member of the site.