--- title: "Student Discovers 17 Planets, One of Which Could Host Life" description: "By combing through data collected by NASA’s planet-hunting Kepler space telescope, an astronomy student at the University of British Columbia has discovered an impressive 17 new planets — including a roughly Earth-sized world found in the habitable zone, the region around a star where liquid water could exist." date: "2020-02-28" modified: "2020-02-28" authors: - name: "Victor Tangermann" job_title: "Senior Editor" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/victor" url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/student-discovers-17-planets-could-host-life" categories: - "Science & Energy" tags: - "Earth-like planet" - "exoplanet" - "Kepler" - "Kepler space telescope" - "the digest" --- # Student Discovers 17 Planets, One of Which Could Host Life ![Michelle Kunimoto, an astronomy student, has discovered 17 new planets, including an Earth-like one that could host life, using data from NASA.]() *\Image: NASA Ames/JPL-Caltech/T. Pyle\* ## Planet Party By combing through data collected by NASA's planet-hunting Kepler space telescope, University of British Columbia astronomy PhD candidate Michelle Kunimoto [discovered]() evidence of an impressive 17 new exoplanets — including a roughly Earth-sized world found in the "habitable zone," the region around a star where liquid water could exist. "This planet is about a thousand light years away, so we're not getting there anytime soon!" Kunimoto said in [a statement](). "But this is a really exciting find, since there have only been 15 small, confirmed planets in the Habitable Zone found in Kepler data so far." ## Transit Method Kunimoto used the "transit method" to find the planets, one of the [most widely used]() planet-hunting methods. "Every time a planet passes in front of a star, it blocks a portion of that star's light and causes a temporary decrease in the star's brightness," she explained. "By finding these dips, known as transits, you can start to piece together information about the planet, such as its size and how long it takes to orbit." ## Stay Tuned The Earth-like planet is about 1.5 times the size of our own planet, and has an orbit just larger than Mercury's. But it only gets about a third of the light that Earth gets from the Sun. Kunimoto and her PhD. supervisor Jaymie Matthews are excited to find more planets in the habitable zone. "How many Earth-like planets are there? Stay tuned," said Matthews. **READ MORE:** [Astronomy student discovers 17 new planets, including Earth-sized world]() \[University of British Columbia\] **More on exoplanets:** *[Astronomers Conclude Massive Exoplanet Could Host Life]()* ## Author I've been at Futurism since 2017, where my role has evolved to encompass design, writing, and increasingly editing. I've always been fascinated by space exploration and advanced transportation, which I've leaned into by interviewing luminaries in those fields while closely following the dimensions of policy and regulation that allow next-generation projects to succeed -- or, sometimes, to fail. I'm also keenly interested in the effects of generative AI on society, policies, and democratic institutions, as well as clean energy, physics and biology, and the vagaries of tech leadership. My work for Futurism has been cited by publications including Ars Technica, Gizmodo, PC Magazine, Jalopnik, Fox News, and the New York Post. I spent my childhood living in locations including Manila, the Philippines, and Geneva, Switzerland, attended McGill University, and now live in Toronto, Canada. Before Futurism I worked at AskMen and a small photography studio. In my free time, I'm an avid gardener, foodie, and craft beer lover, as well as a maker of artisanal hot pepper sauces. I have a magnificent dog named Freida. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()