Post by elizabeth on Feb 26, 2014 22:33:35 GMT
Here's an interesting article out of NASA. Here's the take home lesson, but the whole article is worth reading:
Douglas Hudgins from Nasa's astrophysics division summed up the significance of the latest news: "This is the largest windfall of planets that's ever been announced at one time. Second, these results establish that planetary systems with multiple planets around one star, like our own Solar System, are in fact common.
"Third, we know that small planets - planets ranging from the size of Neptune down to the size of the Earth - make up the majority of planets in our galaxy."
One analysis of Kepler data published in November suggested that perhaps one in five stars like our Sun hosts an Earth-sized world located in the habitable zone.
To read the whole BBC article click here
Douglas Hudgins from Nasa's astrophysics division summed up the significance of the latest news: "This is the largest windfall of planets that's ever been announced at one time. Second, these results establish that planetary systems with multiple planets around one star, like our own Solar System, are in fact common.
"Third, we know that small planets - planets ranging from the size of Neptune down to the size of the Earth - make up the majority of planets in our galaxy."
One analysis of Kepler data published in November suggested that perhaps one in five stars like our Sun hosts an Earth-sized world located in the habitable zone.
To read the whole BBC article click here