Saturday, July 25, 2015

Before It's News Featured News

For years, scientists have been seeking something 'greater' in outer space. They have been seeking, even, something similar. And what they have just found may indeed be one of the biggest discoveries yet! And, it has the potential to prove what mankind has always suspected---life on planets outside of earth may very well exist!

"That's substantial opportunity for life to arise, should all the necessary ingredients and conditions for life exist on this planet." ---Jon Jenkins, Kepler Researcher

This past Thursday, NASA announced that its Kepler spacecraft discovered "Earth's bigger, older cousin---and this is the first near Earth-sized planet found in the habitable zone of a star almost consistent with our own. NASA is unsure if the planet is rocky like Earth, or if it has water and air, yet it is the closest match found to date.

Earth 2.0? NASA finds planet with possible habitable zone

"Today, Earth is a little less lonely," Kepler researcher Jon Jenkins said.

NASA says Kepler-452b is approximately 1,400 light-years from Earth in the constellation Cygnus. Coincidentally, it's nearly 60% larger than Earth, and is located in its star's habitable zone, which is the region where life-sustaining liquid water is feasible on the planet's surface.

But what would it be like if one were to visit this planet? According to planetary scientists, a visitor there would experience gravity almost twice that of Earth's, and the odds of it having a rocky surface are "better than even."

Even though it's slightly farther from its star than Earth is from the sun, its star is more intense, so it receives nearly the same degree of energy from its star as Earth does from the sun. And, according to Jenkins, that sunlight would be very similar to that of Earth's.

Jenkins added, "The planet almost certainly has an atmosphere, although scientists can't say what it's made of. But if the assumptions of planetary geologists are correct, Kepler-452b's atmosphere would probably be thicker than Earth's, and it would have active volcanoes. That's substantial opportunity for life to arise, should all the necessary ingredients and conditions for life exist on this planet."

For me, this is exciting news! Many people have, for years, pondered whether God has created life outside of Earth, and if there could be other civilizations apart from humanity who God has a relationship with, similar to us. It's not necessarily imperative that we have the answers to those questions, however, it surely is interesting!

Previously, another planet titled Kepler-186f had been considered the most Earthlike, according to NASA. No more than a 10th larger than Earth, Kepler-186f is approximately 500 light-years in distance from Earth. However, it receives only about a third of the energy from its star as Earth does from the sun. And, according to NASA, noon on that planet would have an appearance similar to the evening sky on Earth.

NASA's Kepler Spacecraft has uncovered over a thousand planets, and not only are twelve of those, (including Kepler-425b), less than twice the size of Earth, but also in the habitable zones of the stars they orbit.

NASA plans to launch a planet-hunting satellite in 2017 named TESS. TESS will possess the technology to give scientists more details, including size, mass and planet's atmospheres encompassing distant stars.

NASA says that the next year, the James Webb Space Telescope will go up and that it will provide stunning comprehension about other worlds, which includes their color, seasonal variances, weather, as well as the potential existence of vegetation.