Astronomers have discovered a planet nearly the same size as Earth that orbits in its star's habitable zone, where liquid water could exist on its surface, a new study said. This newly found world, Kepler-1649c, is 300 light-years away from Earth and orbits a star that is about one-fourth the size of our sun. What's exciting is that out of all the 2,000+ exoplanets that have been discovered using observations from the Kepler Space Telescope, this world is most similar to Earth both in size and estimated temperature, Nasa said. Although Nasa said that there are other exoplanets estimated to be closer to Earth in size - and others may be closer to Earth in temperature - there is no other exoplanet that's closer to Earth in both of these values that also lies in the habitable zone of its system. Scientists discovered this planet when looking through old observations from the Kepler Space Telescope, which the agency retired in 2018.

Source: Stuff April 16, 2020 05:26 UTC