Kepler Space Telescope Discovers 104 Exoplanets

Astronomers say they have discovered 104 exoplanets, two of which could support life. They orbit the M type dwarf star K2-72, which is 181 light-years away. The planets, which were discovered by using NASA’s Kepler space telescope, are 20 to 50 percent larger than Earth in diameter, astronomers said. They are much closer to their star, which is half the size of our sun and much dimmer, than the planets of our solar system with orbits of between 5.5 and 24 days. Two of the...

© La Voix de l'Amérique - mardi 19 juillet 2016