Where Is Your Next Home

WHERE IS YOUR NEXT HOME? 30 years ago, we didn't even know if planets existed outside of our solar system. Today, scientists have confirmed the existence of more than 1,000 exoplanets. These discoveries have been made with the help of two extraordinary telescopes: one is based in Chile, the other is orbiting Earth. EUROPEAN SOUTHERN OBSERVATORY KEPLER SPACE TELESCOPE THE GOLDILOCKS ZONE Discovering exoplanets isn't enough anymore; now scientists want to know which ones could be habitable. To sustain life as we know it, an exoplanet must orbit its host star at a distance that allows for the presence of liquid water. HOST STAR TOO НОT HABITABLE ZONE "JUST RIGHT" TOO COLD EARTH SIMILARITY INDEX (ESI) The Earth Similarity Index ranks planets based on four key criteria when compared to Earth. RADIUS DENSITY ESCAPE VELOCITY TEMPERATURE THE LEADERS These 10 confirmed exoplanets have the best chance of hosting life outside our solar system. Radius: 6,371 km Density: 5.52 g/cm³ Escape Velocity: 25,000 mph or 7 mps Temperature: 287(K) EARTH 1.00 GLIESE 667Cc Distance from Earth: 23 light years Radius:1.54 x Earth Discovered in 2011 0.84 by European Southern Observatory Density:1.05 x Earth Escape Velocity: 1.57 x Earth Temperature: 286.4(K) KEPLER-62e Distance from Earth: 1199 light years Radius: 1.61 x Earth Discovered in 2013 0.83 by the Kepler Space Telescope Density: 1.08 x Earth Escape Velocity: 1.68 x Earth Temperature: 301.6(K) Distance from Earth: 1743 light years Radius: 1.81 x Earth Density: 1.18 x Earth Escape Velocity: 1.97 x Earth Temperature: 291.1(K) KEPLER-283c Discovered in 2014 by the Kepler Space Telescope 0.79 NEW! KEPLER-296f Distance from Earth: 38 light years Radius: 1.79 x Earth Discovered in 2014 0.78 by the Kepler Space Telescope Density: 1.17 x Earth Escape Velocity: 1.94 x Earth Temperature: 316.2(K) NEW! GLIESE 667Cf Distance from Earth: 23.6 light years Radius: 1.4 x Earth Discovered 2013 0.77 by the European Southern Observatory Density: 0.99 Escape Velocity: 1.39 Temperature: 258.9(K) GLIESE 163 c Distance from Earth: 49 light years Radius: 1.83 x Earth Discovered 2012 0.75 by European Southern Observatory Density: 1.19 x Earth Escape Velocity: 1.99 x Earth Temperature: 320(K) HD 40307 g Distance from Earth: 41.7 light years Radius: 1.82 x Earth Discovered 2012 by the European Southern Observatory Density: 1.18 x Earth Escape Velocity: 1.98 x Earth Temperature: 270(K) 0.74 HD 85512 b Distance from Earth: 36 light years Radius: 1.5 x Earth Discovered 2011 0.74 by European Southern Observatory Density: 1.03 x Earth Escape Velocity: 1.53 x Earth Temperature: 336(K) KEPLER-61b Distance from Earth: 1063 light years Radius: 2.15 x Earth Discovered 2012 by the Kepler Space Telescope Density: 1.39 x Earth Escape Velocity: 2.54 x Earth Temperature: 314(K) 0.73 Distance from Earth: 619 light years KEPLER-22b Radius: 2.35 x Earth Discovered 2009 by the Kepler Space Telescope Density: 1.57 x Earth Escape Velocity: 2.94 x Earth Temperature: 310(K) 0.71 OUTER PLACE S Infographic Created by: Source: phl.upr.edu Planetary Habitability Laboratory, University of Puerto Rico at Arecibo OUTERPLACES.COM WHERE SCIENCE MEETS SCIENCE FICTION