• Dubbed Kepler-438b and Kepler-442b, both planets appear to be rocky, and orbit in the not-too-hot, not-too-cold habitable zones of their stars, where liquid water can exist in abundance.
  • Both planets are many hundreds of light-years away, and orbit stars smaller and dimmer than our sun.
  • Like most of Kepler's finds, they were discovered via transits, the shadows they cast toward our solar system as they cross the blazing faces of their stars. Transits allow astronomers to measure a planet's size, orbit and exposure to starlight.

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