After four years of searching, the Kepler telescope has detected a total of 49 planets in the Goldilocks zone. That doesn’t mean the planets have life, but some of the most basic requirements that life needs are there, upping the chances for life. It was designed to survey part of the galaxy to see how frequent planets are and how frequent Earth-size and potentially habitable planets are. A dozen of the planets that seem to be in the potentially habitable zone circle Earth-like stars, not cooler red dwarfs. Between Kepler and other methods, scientists have now confirmed more than 3,600 exoplanets and found about 62 potentially habitable planets .

Source: Mint June 20, 2017 05:48 UTC