If I were to relocate to a new planet other than Earth, the obvious choice within our solar system would be Mars. But Mars does not have the environment necessary to populate the planet with human beings. Most important of all, it does not have water. Even with advanced tech, we can only terraform it in parts where human habitation can be settled. This is going to be an insanely cost-intensive undertaking. Our time and energy will be dedicated to basic survival for our whole lifetime, and it still would not be enough.
Thanks to the discoveries in space science, we now know of planets that are believed to be, in some measure, if not completely, akin to Earth. Some exoplanets have been discovered with a life-sustaining environment like Earth. Kepler 452b is one such exoplanet that is believed to be a replica of Earth. And this is where I would make my home away from home in the event Earth is inhospitable or there is an opportunity for intergalactic travel and resettlement.
An exoplanet is a planet located outside our solar system - the Milky Way. Kepler 452b is located in the constellation Cygnus. It is 1,400 light-years away from Earth. I would choose Kepler 452b over other habitable planets for several reasons. There are signs that its surface holds a water-like substance. This is the biggest takeaway for a habitable planet.
It is uncannily similar to Earth in many ways. Even though it is 60 per cent bigger in diameter than Earth, it takes 385 days to orbit around its sun. This means its year, which is just three weeks more than ours, has a better likelihood of a seasonal cycle similar to that of Earth.
It revolves around a “sun-like” star. The exoplanet is almost equidistant from its host sun, as the Earth is from ours. Kepler-452, its sun, from which it draws its name, is burning away at the same temperature our sun is. For these very reasons, NASA has called its discovery of Kepler-452b Earth 2.0.
The difference between Mars and Kepler-452b is the same as the difference between survival and living. In the former, it will always be a fight for survival. On Kepler-452b, we can dream and create a new world where we can live and not fight for survival every day.
