Kepler 452b

• Kepler 452b is located around 1,400 light years from Earth in the constellation of Cygnus.
• It is the smallest planet yet discovered that orbits in the habitable zone around a sun-like star.
• The habitable zone, also known as the 'Goldilocks Zone', is an area around a star which has just the right temperature to allow for liquid water to exist.
• Kepler 452b is considered the most Earth like planet yet discovered due to its size, location in its system and the type of star it orbits.
• The star that Kepler 452b orbits is very similar to our sun.
• Kepler 452b orbits its star at a similar distance that the Earth orbits the sun.
• A year on Kepler 452b is only 21 days longer than a year on Earth.
• The mass and composition of Kepler 452b are unknown at this time but its small size indicates that it is most probably a rocky planet.
• It is thought that the force of gravity on Kepler 452b would be twice as strong as Earth's gravity.
• The Kepler 452 system is 6 billion years old, which is 1.5 billion years older than our solar system.

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Kepler 452b revolves around its host star at a distance of around 98 million miles (158 million km) and takes 385 days to make one complete orbit. At the moment the presence of any atmosphere or its composition are unknown, if Kepler 452b is indeed a rocky planet then it is possible that it could have had a similar atmosphere to that of Earth in the past, now though its atmosphere may be undergoing a runaway greenhouse effect. Due to its favorable location around its host star it is thought that Kepler 452b may well have had habitable conditions in the not so distant past, but at the moment its aging star is producing more energy and may have heated up the planet to a point were its oceans have all but dried up and any life that may have existed would now be extinct.

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Host Star: Kepler 452
Host Star Type: Main Sequence - G Class (Yellow Dwarf)
Host Star Mass: 104% of Sun
Constellation: Cygnus
Distance from Earth: 1,400 light years
Planets Detected in System: 1 confirmed
Discovery Date: July 2015
Detection Method: Transit Method
Exoplanet Type: Super Earth

Mass: Unknown, possibly around 4 to 5 times that of Earth.
Diameter: Around 12,800 miles (21,000 km)
Distance from host star: 98 million miles (158 million km)
Orbital Period: 385 days
Atmosphere: Unknown.
Temperature: Unknown.
Gravity: Could be around twice as stronger than Earth's gravity depending on composition.
Possibility of Life: Kepler 452b is one of the more promising candidates for life in our galaxy but may well be entering a less favorable phase in its history.

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