Terra Nova For Real

Potentially Earth-Like Planet Has Right Temperature for Life

• By ScienceNow
• December 5, 2011  | 
• 3:42 pm  | 
• Categories: Space

By Govert Schilling, ScienceNOW

For the first time, astronomers have found a planet smack in the middle of the habitable zone of its sunlike star, where temperatures are good for life. “If this planet has a surface, it would have a very nice temperature of some 70° Fahrenheit [21°C],” says William Borucki of NASA’s Ames Research Center here, who is the principal investigator of NASA’s Kepler space telescope. “[It's] another milestone on the journey of discovering Earth’s twin,” adds Ames director Simon “Pete” Worden...