Last year came to an exciting end with the discovery of an
Earth-like planet, Kepler-22b, orbiting a sun-like star outside
of our solar system. It was found by NASAs Kepler mission and is
the first planet detected orbiting in a stars habitable zone,
the region around a star where liquid water, a requirement for
life on Earth, could persist. The Kepler mission also found 9
other near-Earth-size potential planets that orbit in the
habitable zone of their host star. And this month, scientists
published results of a 6-year study strengthening the
possibility that life forms similar to those on Earth exist
elsewhere. So could 2012 be the year to find extraterrestrial
life? Investigating Kepler-22b and the other possible planets is
certainly a good place to start. Natural History Museum extra-
planetary expert Sara Russell comments on the finds, "These are
really exciting new discoveries. It has been one of the main
aims in astronomy over the last decade or so to search for
Earth-like planets, and it looks as if we