Habitable zone: Quick Facts

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The habitable zones (green) for stars that are like the Sun (middle), hotter than the Sun (top), and cooler than the Sun (bottom). The red areas are those in which liquid surface water would be lost as a result of a runaway greenhouse effect, and the blue areas are those in which liquid surface water would be completely frozen.

Artist's conception of the Kepler satellite, a space telescope designed to find Earth-like planets in the habitable zones of Sun-like stars.

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The orbits of the planets and other elements of the solar system, including asteroids, Kuiper belt, Oort cloud, comet

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Nicolaus Copernicus. Nicolas Copernicus (1473-1543) Polish astronomer. In 1543 he published, forward proof of a Heliocentric (sun centered) universe. Coloured stipple engraving published London 1802. De revolutionibus orbium coelestium libri vi.

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