A potentially Earth-like planet circles a bright star 150 light-years away, casting a shadow tracked from space - and now from Earth, too. The planet, called K2-3d, was first seen crossing in front of its stars by NASA's Kepler space telescope during an ongoing K2 experiment mission.
NASA researchers brought the Okayama Astrophysical Observatory's 188-centimetre telescope to bear on the speck to fine-tune their understanding of the exoplanet's orbit down to a precision of 18 seconds, sources revealed.
By using the first ever Earth-based measurement, researchers predicted when the planet will cross its star in 2018 when the newly complete James Webb Space Telescope should be able to watch it carefully and analyze it for signs of life and habitability.
