Earth vs Kepler 452b - What Are the Differences?

First launched on March 7 2009, Kepler is a NASA space observatory dedicated to discovering the existence of Earth-like planets orbiting other stars. The craft draws its name from Renaissance astronomer Johannes Kepler, and has already given light to some seriously exciting revelations. Now, NASA has revealed that it has discovered a mysterious new planet that shares uncanny similarities with Earth. Named Kepler-452b, the mass is located in the ‘habitable zone’ which means it could support the existence of extra-terrestrial life.

NASA maintains that “This discovery and the introduction of 11 other new small habitable zone candidate planets mark another milestone in the journey to finding another Earth.”

Jon Jenkins, Kepler data analysis lead at NASA’s California based Ames Research Center describes Kepler-452b as “an older, bigger cousin to Earth.”

So what features does Kepler-452b share with the Blue Planet? And where do they differ? Read on for an analysis of the two planets and you can decide for yourself whether or not the similarities are enough to warrant the idea of life on Kepler-452b.

Both exist in the ‘habitable zone’

The Kepler-452b findings were revealed in a NASA teleconference where scientists revealed that the planet is currently orbiting in the ‘habitable zone’ of its sun-like star. This means that technically the area is capable of supporting liquid H2O.  

A similar sun orbit

Kepler-452b takes 385 days to orbit around its sun, a time frame that’s just 5% longer than Earth’s orbit.

G2-type suns

Both Earth’s sun and Kepler-452b’s sun-like star fall into the G2-type category.

Proximity to the sun

The Earth lies 149.6 million kilometers from the sun. Similarly, Kepler-452b is just 7.48 million kilometers, or 5% farther further away from its parent star.

Earth’s older sister

While the Earth is a relatively youthful 4.543 billion years old, Kepler-452b is estimated to be over six billion.  

Ambient temperatures

Scientists have predicted that Kepler-452b sits at the same temperature as Earth which means it could very likely house liquid H2O.  

If Kepler-452b does support the existence of water there is a chance that the planet could even play host to oceans. While ‘Electron Microscopy Reveals Secrets of Nanocrystal-Assembly in Coral Skeletons’ examines reef-building corals found on Earth, the same research techniques could also be applied to any marine life found on Kepler-452b. It’s likely that if Kepler-452b and Earth are as similar as scientists think growth rates of calcium carbonate based exoskeletons could be affected by the chemical composition of seawater, as well as the pH value and temperature of minerals deposited by the corals.