WASHINGTON NASAs planet-hunting telescope has discovered two planets that seem ideal for some sort of life to flourish. And they are just the right size and in just the right place. <\/p>\n
One is toasty, the other chilly. <\/p>\n
The distant duo are the best candidates for habitable planets that astronomers have found, said William Borucki, chief scientist for NASAs Kepler telescope. <\/p>\n
And it has astronomers thinking similar planets that are just about right for life Goldilocks planets might be common in the universe. <\/p>\n
The discoveries, published online Thursday in the journal Science, mark a milestone in the search for where life could exist. <\/p>\n
In the four years Kepler has been trailing Earths orbit, the telescope has found 122 exoplanets, or planets outside our solar system. <\/p>\n
In the past, those planets havent fit all the criteria that would make them right for life of any kind, from microbes to man. <\/p>\n
Many planets arent in the habitable zone where its not too hot and not too cold for liquid water. <\/p>\n
And until now, the few found in that ideal zone were just too big. Those are likely to be gas balls like Neptune and not suitable for life. <\/p>\n
Similarly, any Earth-size planets werent in the right place near their stars, Borucki said. <\/p>\n
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