The search for similar planets to Earth – and the possibility of alien life – has taken a huge step forward recently as NASA announced the discovery of the planet most closely resembling Earth found to date, Kepler-452b.

Discovered by the Kepler spacecraft, the planet shares some extraordinary similarities with our own, gaining a very similar amount of sunlight and having a year that lasts 385 days, very similar to the 365 on Earth. The planet belongs in a class called 'super-Earths', as it is considerably larger than our own planet, but crucially it is the smallest planet yet found in the 'hospitable zone', and smaller planets are far likelier to hold liquid water, the key to finding life.

And that brings us to the most fascinating element of the story: NASA's belief that the planet could contain water, and perhaps sustain life as a result. Kepler researcher Jon Jenkins stated that there was a "substantial opportunity for Earth to arise", while NASA's science chief John Grunsfeld referred to the planet as 'Earth 2.0.'

The planet has spent an astonishing 6 billion years in the habitable zone of its star – which is of the same class and very similar in size and brightness to our own sun. That means that the likelihood of life evolving there is even higher, having had more time to develop and with conditions that could be very similar to the ones on our own planet.

There are some considerable differences, however. As the planet is more massive than Earth, the gravity there would be about twice as strong. But scientists don't think that would be too much of a problem, theorising that humans there would adapt as they do to lifting weights, and simply become stockier over the generations to cope with the higher gravity.

At present, scientists are having to make estimates on what its surface could contain, but further detail may not be too far away. In two years, TESS, a planet-finding satellite using the latest technology will be launched to determine factors more complicated to measure now, such as the mass and atmosphere of distant planets.

NASA are also planning to launch the James Webb Space Telescope, which promises to make the study even more specific, and could even detect the presence of vegetation on some planets, perhaps confirming the existence of alien life. Such new technology could be key to finally unlocking the mysteries of planets scientists have discovered in 'hospitable zones', with the latest find by Kepler being the number one candidate so far.

There is one downside, however. The planet is 1,400 light years away, meaning that even the fastest spacecraft currently available would take millions of years to get there, so there'll be no trips to the second Earth for the foreseeable future. As for the search for alien life, Grunsfeld says we are now "one small step away from answering that question today."