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The hunt for planets beyond our solar system has reached a fever pitch.
With some 500 planets revealed by ground telescopes, now, the ultimate planet finder, the Kepler
space telescope, has released a tsunami of data.
Among over a thousand new planet prospects are 200 multi-planet solar systems and 58
worlds in life-friendly orbits.
They're all within a narrow window on the sky the size of your hand. That's why this
may be the tip of the iceberg in a galaxy that's literally crawling with planets.
Scientists are now beginning to envision what these worlds are like, with atmospheres, oceans,
geological history.
In the process, they are redefining what a planet might need to spawn life.