WASHINGTON (AP) -- The data so far strongly suggests there are a lot more planets in the universe than scientists thought -- and
that raises hopes of finding one that could support life.
NASA released new data Wednesday from its Kepler telescope on more than 1,000 possible new planets outside our solar system -- more than doubling the previous count.
Some astronomers estimate that 90 percent of what Kepler has found will eventually be verified.
Kepler, launched in 2009, has been orbiting the sun between
Earth and Mars, conducting a planet census and searching for
Earth-like planets since last year. It has found there are more
planets smaller than Jupiter than there are giant planets.
Jupiter is the biggest planet in our solar system. Some of these planets even approach Earth's size, though they aren't that small.
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