Much like the Hubble Telescope before it, the Kepler Spacecraft Observatory has turned out to be an astonishing scientific resource. It’s already been established that Kepler is ridiculously adept at locating extrasolar planets, with a possible 99% success rate that defies some of the most optimistic early estimates. Among those recent planetary discoveries is the confirmation of an Earth-like world currently called Kepler 22b, a so-called ‘super earth’ twice the size of our own. As fantastic a discovery as that was, 22b is officially old news as of today, thanks to NASA’s announcement that the Kepler Observatory has nabbed an even more remarkable discovery: not one, but two confirmed Earth-sized planets.

Unlike Kepler 22b, whose large size guarantees a high-gravity environment unsuitable for humans, the two latest discoveries, both in the Kepler 20 star system, are almost the same size as our own lovely planet. Kepler 20E has a radius approximately .87 times the size of earth, just slightly smaller than Venus. Kepler 20F (that images is an artist’s conception) is just barely larger, measuring 1.03 times Earth’s girth. Both planets are thought to be of terrestrial (rocky) composition with masses similar to Earth’s, making them perfect fits for bodies conditioned over millions of years of evolution to Earth standard G.

There’s just one catch. Though Kepler 20 is similar to our own sun, none of its planets are remotely habitable. The Kepler 20 star system has a total of 5-detected planets, all of which orbit at a distance that puts them within the orbit of Mercury around our own sun. That means extremely fast orbits and correspondingly horrid surface temperatures; Kepler 20F orbits Kepler 20 every 19 (earth) days and enjoys a mercury-esque 800 degrees Fahrenheit. That’s positively chilly compared to Kepler 20E’s incomprehensibly hot 1400 degrees and incredible 6.1 day orbit. So don’t pack your astro-vacation gear just yet.

Even though we have yet to find another place to call home, it has now been proved we have the ability. Thus the Kepler mission can consider itself justified. Now if we could only figure out how to actually reach any of the planets we discover…

SOURCE via CNN