Catalog Page for PIA14883

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PIA14883: Closer to Finding an Earth (Artist's Concept)

This artist's conception illustrates Kepler-22b, a planet known to comfortably circle in the habitable zone of a sun-like star. It is the first planet that NASA's Kepler mission has confirmed to orbit in a star's habitable zone.

Target Name:	Kepler-22b
Mission:	Kepler
Product Size:	4096 x 3072 pixels (w x h)
Produced By:	IPAC-Caltech
Full-Res TIFF:	PIA14883.tif (37.75 MB)
Full-Res JPEG:	PIA14883.jpg (893.4 kB)

Click on the image above to download a moderately sized image in JPEG format (possibly reduced in size from original)

Original Caption Released with Image:

This artist's conception illustrates Kepler-22b, a planet known to comfortably circle in the habitable zone of a sun-like star. It is the first planet that NASA's Kepler mission has confirmed to orbit in a star's habitable zone -- the region around a star where liquid water, a requirement for life on Earth, could persist. The planet is 2.4 times the size of Earth, making it the smallest yet found to orbit in the middle of the habitable zone of a star like our sun.

Scientists do not yet know if the planet has a predominantly rocky, gaseous or liquid composition. It's possible that the world would have clouds in its atmosphere, as depicted here in the artist's interpretation.

Image Credit:

NASA/JPL-Caltech/Ames

Image Addition Date:

2011-12-05