A Possible Earth Twin

The search for extraterrestrial life is a continuous quest for humanity. So far, we've discovered over 5,000 planets outside our solar system. However, only about 1% (roughly 50) of these are potentially habitable. This means they're on the same ballpark size as Earth and at a similar distance from their stars, allowing for the possibility of being rocky.

One of these potentially habitable planets stands out for its similarities to Earth. Discovered in 2015 by NASA's Kepler Space Telescope, Kepler 452b is about 60% larger in diameter than Earth and orbits its star every 385 days, roughly equivalent to our 12 months. Its host star, Kepler 452, is a G-type star like our Sun but about 1.5 billion years older.

However, there are some hurdles to potentially visiting Kepler 452b. First, the gravity is twice as strong given the planet's larger mass. This means everyone would weigh double, making physical activity twice as strenuous. Also, at a distance of 1,800 light-years, no human can reach it in their lifespan.

We reside on a unique planet called Earth. The most similar planet we've discovered is more than 20 human generations away, even if we would travel at the speed of light, which we're still far from mastering. Let's appreciate our little blue planet and cherish it every day.

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