Since it was launched in 2009, NASA’s planet-hunting Kepler Space Telescope has identified more than 1,000 exoplanets and almost 4,200 exoplanet “candidates.” It’s even found entire solar systems–but never one like the system it just identified some 117 light-years from Earth.
The newfound solar system consists of five rocky, Earth-sized planets circling a star called Kepler-444, which–at 11.2 million years of age–is more than twice as old as the Sun.
Astronomers say the Kepler-444 system may help scientists pinpoint when Earth-like planets first started forming, and may have important implications for the possibility of alien life.
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A paper describing the discovery has been accepted for publication in the Astrophysical Journal.
Check out the podcast below for an interview with William Borucki, and learn more about the amazing story behind NASA’s planet-hunting Kepler mission.
