Exoplanet Kepler-452b. Illustration of the Earth-like exoplanet Kepler-452b and its parent star Kepler-452 (upper left). This planet is in its star's habitable zone, meaning liquid water and life could exist on its surface. It is 63 percent larger than Earth (about 20,800 kilometres across) and orbits its star every 385 days. This planet's star is similar to the Sun, but 1.5 billion years older and hence brighter and hotter. It is some 1400 light years from Earth, in the constellation of Cygnus. This planet is one of many discovered by NASA's Kepler space observatory, which was launched in 2009. The discovery of Kepler-452b was announced on 23 July 2015.