WASHINGTON — NASA’s Spitzer Space Telescope has detected light emanating from a “super-Earth” planet beyond our solar system for the first time. While the planet is not habitable, the detection is a historic step toward the eventual search for signs of life on other planets.
“Spitzer has amazed us yet again,” said Bill Danchi, Spitzer program scientist at NASA Headquarters in Washington. “The spacecraft is pioneering the study of atmospheres of distant planets and paving the way for NASA’s upcoming James Webb Space Telescope to apply a similar technique on potentially habitable planets.”

The planet, called 55 Cancri e, falls into a …

New planet best example yet of planet in habitable zone.
An International research team analyzed data from the European Southern Observatory about a star known as GJ 667C. The researchers have found a Super-Earth which is the best candidate that could be capable of supporting life that we have found a yet. This planet is in the habitable zone, a very narrow region where the temperature is not too hot or too cold. This is a small area around stars in which conditions to support life are present due to temperatures for water liquid exist.

“This planet is the new best candidate …

Kepler Finds First Earth-Size Planets Beyond Our Solar System Found
MOFFET FIELD, Calif. — The Kepler mission discovered the first Earth-size planets orbiting a sun-like star outside our solar system. The planets, called Kepler-20e and Kepler-20f, are too close to their star to be in the so-called habitable zone where liquid water could exist on a planet’s surface, but they are the smallest exoplanets ever confirmed around a star like our sun.

The discovery marks the next important milestone in the ultimate search for planets like Earth. The new planets are thought to be rocky. Kepler-20e is slightly smaller than Venus, measuring …

First planet in zone that could support life found
(Source – NASA): This diagram compares our own solar system to Kepler-22, a star system containing the first “habitable zone” planet discovered by NASA’s Kepler mission. The habitable zone is the sweet spot around a star where temperatures are right for water to exist in its liquid form. Liquid water is essential for life on Earth.

Kepler-22′s star is a bit smaller than our sun, so its habitable zone is slightly closer in. The diagram shows an artist’s rendering of the planet comfortably orbiting within the habitable zone, similar to where Earth circles …