NASA just discovered a record-breaking number of planets

NASA discovers largest collection of planets.
(Image credit: NASA via Getty Images)

NASA announced Tuesday that its Kepler Space Telescope has discovered another 1,284 planets. The latest finding marks the single largest discovery of planets ever, and more than doubles the number of planets that Kepler has confirmed. "This gives us hope that somewhere out there, around a star like ours, we can eventually discover another Earth," Ellen Stofan, chief scientist at NASA Headquarters in Washington, said. NASA believes some of the new planets discovered are roughly the same size as Earth and could be habitable.

The $600 million space telescope was launched in 2009, and the latest finding marks its second successful haul. During the first leg of the telescope's mission in 2009, more than 1,000 planets were confirmed, including 12 that are about the size of Earth. In total, there are now more than 3,200 verified planets — 2,325 of which were discovered by Kepler.

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE
https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up
To continue reading this article...
Continue reading this article and get limited website access each month.
Get unlimited website access, exclusive newsletters plus much more.
Cancel or pause at any time.
Already a subscriber to The Week?
Not sure which email you used for your subscription? Contact us