Earth Has A Twin

December 11, 2011 4:47 pm     Posted in Cool Stuff  Caitlin Corsetti g+ page


By Caitlin Corsetti

Houston, we have a pretty cool problem. NASA found a planet outside of our solar system called Kepler-22b that is really similar to Earth and could possibly support life (yikes!!). It’s got the perfect temperature of 72 degrees, which is a really nice day here on Earth. I don’t know about you guys, but space stuff tends to freak me out. I think it’s really great that we’re able to explore the unknown universe, but what if there really is life on this planet. I can picture those aliens being all, “Guys! We just found a planet called Earth that’s our twin! How crazy is that?!”

NASA has been finding all sorts of near-habitable planets with Kepler, 48 to be exact. However, Kepler-22b is the first one they’ve confirmed. This space discovery mission started in 2009 and has since discovered over 1,000 new planet candidates. Even if it is kind of freaky, this is a really cool discovery so here are some fun facts about our twin planet:

1. It orbits a star: this star is really similar to our Sun (also a star, if you didn’t know that by now) which could possibly be the Sun’s twin. Kepler-22b’s orbit is about 290 days, much like our 365-day orbit.

2. It’s bigger: Kepler-22b is about 2.4 times the size of Earth, which scientists say it might be too big for life to exist.

3. But it’s in the habitable zone: NASA has determined that Kepler-22b is in the habitable zone to sustain life. They don’t know what the conditions are under its atmosphere, but its 72 degree temperature most likely means it has water and rock.

4. It’s really far away: this planet is about 600 lightyears away, which means it would take virtually forever to get there. So maybe we won’t be meeting any life forms in the near future.

How do you feel about this new planet? Do you think it has life on it?

7 Comments on "Earth Has A Twin"

  1. Lo Bee says:
    Sun, 11th Dec 20117:38 pm 

    This is so cool! I love space research. The universe is just so awesome! So many stars and planets out there waiting to be discovered!

  2. Kay says:
    Sun, 11th Dec 20117:38 pm 

    I think this is fantastic! Thanks for sharing.

  3. Maura - Rider University says:
    Sun, 11th Dec 20119:07 pm 

    I think it's awesome. Now if for some reason our Earth is going to end, we have a black up plan(et)!

  4. nochealberto says:
    Sun, 11th Dec 201110:23 pm 

    Every fixed star has its own planets, and every planet has its own creatures no man can compute!

  5. Mona says:
    Mon, 12th Dec 20119:25 am 

    This is really cool! It's weird to think that our great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great grandchildren could one day live there.

  6. Katie Garrity - North Central College says:
    Mon, 12th Dec 20114:05 pm 

    Space boggles my mind, but in a good way. It's so insane to think about all that's out there and the possibility of life on other planets. I've always wondered if there's another earth just like ours with people doing the exact same thing we are. This is such a cool, interesting piece.

  7. criolle johnny says:
    Mon, 12th Dec 20115:45 pm 

    Does it tilt on its axis? If so, it might have seasons. Could crops be grown in the seasons that it has?
    Does it rotate? What is the rotation period? A ten or fifteen hour day or thirty six hour day would have a serious impact on plant and animal life accustomed to Earth cycles.
    What is the composition of the atmosphere? Too much or too little of …
    One of many problems is that you have to GO TO IT to answer those and other questions with current technology.
    We're going to need more engineers.

Tell us what you're thinking...