http://www.wwlp.com/dpp/living_green/di ... ater,-lifeSPRINGFIELD, Mass. (WWLP) - Kepler 22B, it doesn't quite have the same ring to it as the name Earth, but it could be the most similar planet to Earth that scientists have ever discovered.
"Definitely a good thing to know that there are other options," said Johanna Como of Springfield.
A very distant potential option, planet Kepler 22B, was just recently discovered by NASA using its Kepler telescope.
This planet, which we still know very little about, circles a sun very similar to ours at roughly the same distance.
A year on this planet takes place over 290 days and scientists believe it could be covered with water while having a rocky core.
While there are many similarities to earth, there are also some big differences. Kepler 22B is 2.4 times the size of Earth.
The planet size and density could impact our ability to live on the planet, but there could be alien life which is what some people in western Massachusetts are getting excited about.
"We're not alone, I have to believe in the size of the universe that we can't possible be the only ones around, there'd be other people, "said Tom Nostin of West Springfield.
But we won't be going there anytime soon.
"The sun is only about 7 light minutes away. But this planet is so far away that it takes light 600 years to reach us and with our current technology we have no hope of actually traveling there anytime in the distant or in the near future," said Richard Sanderson, Astronomer and Curator of Physical Science at the Springfield Science Museum.
The planet is believed to have a surface temperature of 72 degrees, we'll know more about the planet next summer after further study.