(Image credit: NASA / Ames / JPL-Caltech.)
Orbiting high above the Earth’s atmosphere, NASA’s Kepler spacecraft is the most sophisticated planet-finding satellite ever constructed. Planets outside of our Solar System, mind you: exoplanets. Having not only found over 1,000 new exoplanets since launched, Kepler has also greatly expanded our catalog of potentially habitable planets!
But the recent discovery of Kepler-22b, a rocky planet in an almost identical orbit to Earth’s around a Sun-like star, is one of the top discoveries in recent times!
With many more worlds just waiting to be found, Kepler has the world abuzz waiting for Tuesday’s big announcement: what, exactly, did they find? Is it a world even more like our own? (Remember, Kepler-22b isn’t our only hope, it’s just our best hope so far!) I don’t know what you’re waiting for; check and adopt the Exoplanets Trap for yourself and find out!
-Ethan
