Astronomers Catalog Planets That May Be Earthlike

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Astronomers Catalog Planets That May Be Earthlike
Jet Propulsion Laboratory
August 4, 2016

Using public data collected by NASA's Kepler mission, astronomers have
catalogued the planet candidates that may be similar to our third rock
from the sun. The tabulation of candidates will help astronomers focus
their research efforts in the search for life.

The analysis, led by Stephen Kane, an associate professor of physics and
astronomy at San Francisco State University in California, highlights
20 candidates in the Kepler trove that are less than twice the size of
Earth and orbit their star in the conservative habitable zone -- the range
of distances where liquid water could pool on the surface of an orbiting
planet. Of these 20 candidates, nine have been previously investigated
and determined to be verified planets, including notables like Kepler-62f,
Kepler-186f, Kepler-283c, Kepler-296f and Kepler-442b.

The results are presented in a paper accepted by the Astrophysical Journal.
For a listing of the candidates and their properties, the paper can be
reviewed at: http://arxiv.org/abs/1608.00620.

NASA's Ames Research Center in California's Silicon Valley manages the
Kepler and K2 missions for NASA's Science Mission Directorate. NASA's
Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, managed Kepler mission
development. Ball Aerospace & Technologies Corporation operates the flight
system with support from the Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics
at the University of Colorado at Boulder.

News Media Contact
Elizabeth Landau
Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif.
818-354-6425
elizabet...@jpl.nasa.gov

Michele Johnson
Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, Calif.
650-604-6982
michele...@nasa.gov

Written by Michele Johnson

2016-204