A new planet has been found by the Kepler space telescope—and is thought to be the most Earth-like exoplanet (one from another solar system) ever found. The planet has been named Kepler 438b and is 475 light years away, orbiting a dwarf star in the constellation of Lyra. A dwarf, surrounded by a planetary nebula, is all that remains after a star similar in size to our Sun has reached the end of its life. Kepler 438b is slightly bigger and warmer than Earth and is likely to be rocky. The planet lies within the habitable, or "Goldilocks" zone surrounding its parent star: neither too close nor too far away, and where water can exist in a liquid state on the planet's surface.

Earlier in its life, this planet may have been like one of the eight other newly discovered exoplanets orbiting in the habitable zones of their stars. All were found by the Kepler space telescope. It is able to detect them because as they move across the faces of their stars the light from the star detected by the telescope decreases by a tiny amount each time they do so.