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Newfound Earth-Like Planet, Kepler-186f, Is ‘Best Case’ For Hosting Life, Astronomers Say

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Astronomers have discovered what they say is the most Earth-like planet yet detected — a distant, rocky world that’s similar in size to our own and exists in the Goldilocks zone where it’s not too hot and not too cold for life.

The find, announced Thursday, excited planet hunters who have been scouring the Milky Way galaxy for years for potentially habitable places outside our solar system.

“This is the best case for a habitable planet yet found. The results are absolutely rock solid,” University of California, Berkeley astronomer Geoff Marcy, who had no role in the discovery, said in an email.

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Top Exoplanet Discoveries Of 2013 Include Some Pretty Freaky Places (PHOTOS)

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While astronomers didn’t bag that elusive first “alien Earth” in 2013, they made plenty of exciting exoplanet discoveries during the past year.

Here’s a list of the top exoplanet finds of 2013, from a tiny world about the size of Earth’s moon to a blue gas giant on which it rains molten glass:

The smallest exoplanet

In February, astronomers announced the discovery of Kepler-37b, the smallest alien world ever found around a sun-like star. The planet is about 2,400 miles (3,900 kilometers) wide, making it just slightly larger than Earth’s moon.

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exoplanet 2013

Data from NASA’s Kepler mission finds evidence for at least 100 billion planets in our galaxy. Image released January 3, 2013. | NASA
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Habitable Zone For Planets Redefined, Shifting Ranks Of Exoplanets In ‘Goldilocks’ Range

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One of the most important characteristics of an alien planet is whether or not it falls into what’s called the habitable zone ­— a Goldilocks-like range of not-too-close, not-too-far distances from the parent star that might allow the planet to host life.

Now scientists have redefined the boundaries of the habitable zone for alien planets, potentially kicking out some exoplanaets that were thought to fall within it, and maybe allowing a few that had been excluded to squeeze in.

“This will have a significant impact on the number of exoplanets that are within habitable zone,” said research team leader Ravi Kumar Kopparapu of Penn State University.

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Habitable Zone Planets

A new definition of the habitable zone around planets, denoting where liquid water
could exist, shifts Earth toward the very edge of the solar system’s own habitable zone.

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First ‘Alien Earth’ Exoplanet Could Be Discovered In 2013 By Kepler Telescope, Astronomer Predicts

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The first truly Earth-like alien planet is likely to be spotted next year, an epic discovery that would cause humanity to reassess its place in the universe.

While astronomers have found a number of exoplanets over the last few years that share one or two key traits with our own world — such as size or inferred surface temperature — they have yet to bag a bona fide “alien Earth.” But that should change in 2013, scientists say.

“I’m very positive that the first Earth twin will be discovered next year,” said Abel Mendez, who runs the Planetary Habitability Laboratory at the University of Puerto Rico at Arecibo.

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First Alien Earth

More exoplanets than expected in the first year of the Habitable Exoplanets Catalog. Image released Dec. 6, 2012.

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http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/12/27/first-alien-earth-exoplanet-2013_n_2371919.html?ref=topbar

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