NASA announced on Thursday that it has found the first near-Earth-size planet orbiting in the habitable zone of a star that is similar to our own sun.
A year on the new planet is just 20 days longer than a year here and while its star is quite a long trek from home for humans at 1,400 light-years away in the constellation Cygnus, its sun is about the same size and temperature as our own. It's about 1.5 billion years older than our sun at 6 billion years, but it has nearly the same temperature and mass.
A small, rocky planet could host liquid water on its surface, if it also contains a carbon-dioxide atmosphere,45/50 percent larger than Earth, though it's not possible to pinpoint the exoplanet's gravity without knowing its composition. If the exoplanet were "rocky" like Earth (made up of one-third iron and two-thirds silicate rock, water and ice), its gravity would be similar to Earth's, according to calculations by researchers.
Scientists don't yet know for sure if the planet , can support life. It's in a region where temperatures are right for liquid water, giving it a decent chance of being rocky like our own planet. NASA scientists also expect that Kepler-452b would have a slightly thicker atmosphere than Earth and probably still have active volcanoes, could contain oceans of water if its atmosphere keeps the planet warm. making it a pretty lively place even if it doesn't have life.
And if you wanted to try to contact people back home on Earth, don't hold your breath — a message sent from Kepler-452b would take many centuries to get to Earth.