NASA announces discovery of Earth-like planet

NASA says it has found what may be the closest match to Earth yet — a potentially rocky planet circling its star at the same distance as the Earth orbits the Sun.

Not only is this planet squarely in the “Goldilocks zone” — where life could exist because it is neither too hot nor too cold to support liquid water — its star looks like an older cousin of our Sun, the US space agency says.

That means the planet, which is 1,400 light-years away, could offer a glimpse into the Earth’s apocalyptic future, scientists say.

Known as Kepler 452b, the planet was detected by the US space agency’s Kepler Space Telescope, which has been hunting for other worlds like ours since 2009.

“Kepler 452b is orbiting a close cousin of our Sun, but one that is 1.5 billion years older,” NASA says in a statement.

— AFP