NASA's Kepler Spacecraft Discovers New Batch of Earthlike Planets
Planet-hunting mission confirms eight new worlds, including some of the most Earthlike yet.
SEATTLE—NASA's venerable planet-hunter, the Kepler spacecraft, has shaken its one-thousandth planet from the sky. Eight new worlds beyond our solar system, announced Tuesday, boost the number of Kepler's confirmed planets to 1,004 (if you're keeping count), including two of the most Earthlike planets discovered so far.
Those eight new worlds are each less than 2.7 times the size of Earth, astronomers reported at the American Astronomical Society's annual winter meeting. But hiding in the wings, among a group of 554 newly announced planet candidates, is an even more tantalizing set of planets.
"These candidates represent the closest analogues to the Earth-sun system found to date, and this is what Kepler has been looking for. We are now closer than we
