Astronomers have found another planet that could potentially lead to the discovery of extra-terrestrial life.

The Kepler spacecraft has identified the new planet, named Kepler-453b, which sits within a ‘habitable zone’ where temperatures similar to Earth could support life.

Kepler-453b falls within the ‘circumbinary’ category – a term used for planets that orbit two stars.

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But spotting such planets is fraught with difficulty.

Researchers detect planets outside our solar system by observing the decrease in starlight as the planet passes, or “transits,” between its host star and Earth.

But with two stars making Kepler-453b’s orbit more erratic, its transits are only visible to astronomers nine per cent of the time.

“If we had observed this planet earlier or later than we did, we would have seen nothing and assumed there was no planet there,” researcher Dr Stephen Kane said.

“That suggests that there are a lot more of these kinds of planets than we are thinking, and we’re just looking at the wrong time.”

Dr Kane, an Assistant Professor of Physics and Astronomy at San Francisco State University and a member of the team that made the discovery, said the planet appeared to be 60 per cent larger than Neptune.

The planet is likely to be a gas giant, he said.

“But it could have moons that are rocky, which means you could have life on the moons in this system,” Dr Kane said.

The academic said anyone on the planet surface would be able to see two suns, similar to scenes in the movie Star Wars.

In July another planet named Kepler 452b, believed to be similar to Earth was also discovered in the habitable zone.