Three newly discovered exoplanets may be capable of supporting life, astronomers announced today (April 18). One is the most Earth-like alien planet spotted yet.
Researchers using NASA's Kepler space telescope discovered the three exoplanets. Two, Kepler-62f and Kepler-62e, orbit a star smaller and dimmer than the sun, according to SPACE.com.
Kepler-62f is the most promising of the trio, as it is a rocky world only 1.4 times larger than Earth. Both 62e, which is 1.6 times larger than Earth, and 62f orbit in their stars' habitable zones, where liquid water can exist.
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The planets "look very good as possibilities for looking for life," Bill Borucki, Kepler's science principal investigator, told SPACE.com. [Video: Two Oceanic Planets Discovered]
The third planet, Kepler-69c orbits another sunlike star. At 1.7 times the size of Earth, it's the smallest planet yet found in the habitable zone of a star similar to the sun.
The researchers also found three other planets in the Kepler-62 system and another in the Kepler-69 system. Researchers believe that Kepler-62e and Kepler-62f may be water worlds dominated by global oceans.
For more on the hunt for Earth-like planets, visit SPACE.com.
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