Two studies of an Earth-sized planet circling the sun-like star Kepler-78 show it has Earth-like amounts of iron and rock, the first world of its size that scientists have been able to calculate both density and diameter.
But don't pack your bags yet. The planet, known as Kepler-78b, circles sizzlingly close to its parent star, far from an Earth-like water-friendly orbit, a condition that is believed to be necessary for life.
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"To me this means that planets like the Earth are probably not all that uncommon," astronomer Drake Deming, with the University of Maryland, told Discovery News. Read more...
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