Western grad student

Chris Fox has had a love affair with the stars since he was a child. Now, the PhD student in the department of physics and astronomy at Western University is celebrating the discovery of a new exoplanet, a planet that is outside of our solar system.

"I was very excited," said Fox. "I got what I was looking for."

Chris Fox, PhD student at Western University

The new planet is called Kepler 159d. Kepler 159b and Kepler 159c, two exoplanets discovered by NASA 's Kepler Space Telescope.

A red letter day

"Discovering new planets is not an everyday affair," said Paul Wiegert, Graduate Program Director at Western's Center for Planetary Science and Exploration. "We were pretty ecstatic finding a new planet, a red letter day, for sure."

Wiegert said this discovery is not only exciting, it will help us understand our solar system.

"The beauty of exoplanets and astronomical research is general," said Wiegert. "As we discover new exoplanets, we start to discover that these planets are actually quite different than we have in our solar system."

The Goldilocks area

Kepler 159d is about the same as Saturn and orbits its according to 88 days, according to Fox. But, that's not all.

"It's not too hot and it's called the goldilocks zone," said Fox.

That means there's a potential for liquid water. But, does that mean it could be life on Kepler 159d?

"It would be a good first step," said Fox. "We have no idea where we are, but it's probably a big deal, so it's probably as life here on earth. "

Answering those types of "really, really big questions" is all part of the process said Wiegert.

"But we have a long way to go."