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In recent years, NASA's Kepler space telescope and other observatories have discovered more than 1,800 extra-solar planets, with thousands of additional "candidate" planets awaiting confirmation. Current technology is nowhere near able to allow quick intergalactic travel, but if you somehow wound up on an Earth-size alien world, what would you experience? Last year, scientists announced the discovery of Kepler-186f — the first Earth-size exoplanet found in its star's habitable zone, the region of space in a planetary system where liquid water (and, therefore, life) could exist. "The star [Kepler-186] is about half the size and about half the mass of...

An Earth-sized planet that might hold liquid water by Staff Writers Ann Arbor MI (SPX) Apr 27, 2014 An artist's conception of the newly discovered exoplanet Kepler-186f orbiting the red dwarf star Kepler-186. The planet is the first Earth-sized world to be found orbiting a star at a distance that would allow it to harbor liquid water, a necessary ingredient for life as we know it. Image courtesy NASA/Ames/JPL-Caltech/T. Pyle. In a dim and faraway solar system, astronomers have for the first time discovered a rocky, Earth-sized planet that might hold liquid water-a necessary ingredient for life as we know...

Explanation: Planet Kepler-186f is the first known Earth-size planet to lie within the habitable zone of a star beyond the Sun. Discovered using data from the prolific planet-hunting Kepler spacecraft, the distant world orbits its parent star, a cool, dim, M dwarf star about half the size and mass of the Sun, some 500 light-years away in the constellation Cygnus. M dwarfs are common, making up about 70 percent of the stars in our Milky Way galaxy. To be within the habitable zone, where surface temperatures allowing liquid water are possible, Kepler-186f orbits close, within 53 million kilometers (about the...

Using NASA's Kepler Space Telescope, astronomers have discovered the first Earth-size planet orbiting a star in the "habitable zone" -- the range of distance from a star where liquid water might pool on the surface of an orbiting planet. The discovery of Kepler-186f confirms that planets the size of Earth exist in the habitable zone of stars other than our sun. While planets have previously been found in the habitable zone, they are all at least 40 percent larger in size than Earth and understanding their makeup is challenging. Kepler-186f is more reminiscent of Earth. "The discovery of Kepler-186f...

For the first time, scientists have discovered an Earth-size alien planet in the habitable zone of its host star, an "Earth cousin" that just might have liquid water and the right conditions for life.

NASA will hold a live news teleconference on Thursday, April 17, at 2 p.m. EDT (11 a.m. PT/1800 GMT) to unveil a new discover by the Kepler space telescope, which hunts alien planets beyond our solar system. Full Story: Found! First Earth-Size Planet That Could Support Life, Gallery Video: New Earth-Size Planet Could Have Water Complete Coverage Top Story: Found! First Earth-Size Planet That Could Support Life Video: New Earth-Size Planet Could Have Water Earth-Size Planet Kepler-186f, a Possibly Habitable Alien World (Gallery) Exoplanet Kepler-186f: Earth-Size World Could Support Oceans and Life (Infographic) From SETI Astronomer Seth Shostak: Cousin of...