A University of Washington astronomer says he's discovered perhaps the most Earthlike planet yet found by the Kepler Space Telescope outside the solar system. Eric Agol has identified Kepler 62f, a small and probably rocky planet orbiting a sun-like star in the Lyra constellation, a university release reported Thursday. The planet is about 1.4 times the size of Earth, receives about half as much solar heat and radiation as Earth and orbits its star in a "year" equivalent to 267.3 Earth days, he said. It's one of two planets orbiting in the star Kepler 62's habitable zone, the right distance from the star to potentially allow liquid water to exist on a planet's surface, which could suggest conditions amenable to life. Kepler 62f and its companion, Kepler 62e, are the smallest exoplanets found so far in a host star's habitable zone.
