54 planets that can sustain life?

NASA’s Kepler spacecraft has uncovered 54 planet-candidates that orbit within their host stars’ “habitable zones” – Goldilocks distances where the star warms the planet sufficiently to allow liquid water to remain stable on its surface.

The potential finds, which must clear an arduous, detailed confirmation process, still fall short of the ultimate goal, finding an Earth-size planet orbiting a sun-like star at Earth-like distances.

But if these candidates pan out as planets, their discovery – and its implications for uncovering many more as time passes – increases the likelihood that life has gained footholds elsewhere in the galaxy.