Imagine stepping onto a distant exoplanet, where vast alien oceans stretch beyond the horizon. Based on data from missions ...

The curious minds at What If show you the physical effects of landing on the exoplanet Kepler-22b.

The new planet Kepler-22b is the first alien world to be confirmed orbiting in the middle of its star's habitable zone, NASA has announced.

Other exoplanets could hold water, too, but more research is needed to find out for sure. Kepler-22b, for example, could be an ocean world with 60-degree-Fahrenheit temperatures.

The Kepler space telescope was launched in 2009 and has stared down more than 500,000 stars. But NASA says Kepler has run out of fuel.

The Kepler Space Telescope has run out of fuel and ended its 9.5-year career, just days after astronomers announced possible evidence of a moon orbiting an exoplanet.

Borucki described his favourite exoplanet, located more than 600 light years from Earth and first spotted by the telescope in 2009, named Kepler 22B.

Such an ocean world, he mused, would be an incredible place to search for life. Alas, 22b is 600 light years away. Now, in the considerable wake of Kepler, NASA is pressing ahead.

Kepler-22b was the mission's first planet in the so-called habitable zone, where liquid water can exist on its surface. NASA/Ames/JPL-Caltech ...

Kepler-22b is the first extra-solar planet, or exoplanet, that the Kepler Space Telescope found in the habitable zone of its star. It is thought to be a promising spot to search for life.