[Geology2] Deep Space Camera Locates 140 'Earths'

The wording "140 Earths" may be somewhat hyperbolic. As a careful
reading of what's stated below indicates, there are apparently 140
CANDIDATE SIGNALS in the data, only five of which are confirmed planets.
One would expect that most of the candidates are likely to be
eliminated. Still, an impressive anmd significant find . . .

Deep Space Camera Locates 140 'Earths'
Scientists celebrated Sunday after finding more than 700 suspected new
planets -- including up to 140 similar in size to Earth -- in just six
weeks
of using a powerful new space observatory.

Early results from NASA's Kepler Mission, a small satellite observing
deep space, suggested planets like Earth were far more common than
previously
thought.

Past discoveries suggested most planets outside our solar system were
gas
giants such as Jupiter and Saturn -- but the new evidence tipped the
balance
in favor of solid worlds.

Astronomers said the discovery meant the chances of eventually finding
truly Earth-like planets capable of sustaining life rose sharply.

NASA so far formally announced only five new exoplanets -- those outside
our solar system -- from the mission because its scientists were still
analyzing Kepler's finds to confirm they are actually planets.

"The figures suggest our galaxy, the Milky Way [which has more than 100
billion stars] will contain 100 million habitable planets, and soon we
will be
identifying the first of them," said Dimitar Sasselov, professor of
astronomy at Harvard University and a scientist on the Kepler Mission.
"There is a lot more work we need to do with this, but the statistical
result is loud and clear, and it planets like our own Earth are out
there."

http://www.foxnews.com/scitech/2010/07/25/nasas-deep-space-camera-locates-ho
st-earths/?test=faces

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