NASA announces it's found the most Earth-like planet to date

(Image credit: NASA/Getty Images)

last updated 23 July 2015

After dropping some major hints, NASA confirmed in a press release that it had indeed found the "first near-Earth-size planet in the 'habitable zone' around a sun-like star." The new planet is called Kepler-452b and it is 60 percent larger in diameter than Earth. Although the mass and composition of this "super-Earth-size planet" are not yet known, NASA says its surface is rocky. Kepler-452b's discovery marks the 1,030th confirmed planet in the universe, and also a big moment in the search for another "Earth."

"Exoplanets, especially small Earth-size worlds, belonged within the realm of science fiction just 21 years ago," NASA said in a press release. "Today, and thousands of discoveries later, astronomers are on the cusp of finding something people have dreamed about for thousands of years — another Earth."

Kepler has previously found "numerous exoplanets in the orbiting zone that could be conducive to supporting life," Talking Points Memo reports. When Kepler astronomers discovered eight new planets earlier this year, they said that they were "now closer than we've ever been for finding a twin for Earth."