NASA finds evidence of 10 new Earth-sized planets in our corner of the galaxy

The Verge ------ NASA has found new evidence of 219 planets outside our Solar System. Ten of those exoplanets appear to be similar to the size of the Earth and orbit their stars in the habitable zone — just far enough away to develop water, but not so far that they freeze. If confirmed, they would be added to a small but growing list of Earth-sized planets that occupy our corner of the Milky Way galaxy, supporting the idea that rocky worlds are more common than we once thought. The potential discoveries are part of the final catalog of results being released from the first Kepler space telescope mission. Kepler has been surveying the Cygnus constellation since 2009, and during that time scientists have found more than 5,000 potential exoplanets in an area of the sky about 3,000 light-years away from Earth. Today’s announcement whittled those candidates down to 4,034. A total of 2,335 of those have been verified as exoplanets, 21 of which are Earth-sized and orbit in their star’s habitable zone. Earth-sized planets are of particular interest because they can teach us about how our own planet formed, and because there's a small chance they could harbor life. To learn more click on the picture below to read the article.