Science in a Minute 030420 Canadian Astronomy Student Discovers 17 New Exoplanets

A University of British Columbia student of astronomy was combing through data that had been gathered by NASA’s planet-hunting Kepler mission when she discovered 17 new exoplanets. One of the new planets, which is described as being Earth-like, also happens to reside in the so-called habitable zone around its host star. Another of the planets is only two-thirds the size Earth, while the remaining fifteen exoplanets are said to range in sizes up to eight times that of Earth.