Prelims 2015 · archive
EasyThe term 'Goldilocks Zone' is often seen in the news in the context of
Answer & explanation
Answer: (c) search for the Earth-like planets in outer space
The 'Goldilocks Zone' is another name for a star's habitable zone. This is the band of distances where a planet's surface can hold liquid water. It features in news about the search for Earth-like planets around other stars. Kepler-452b, announced in July 2015, is an example.
- ✓ (c) Astronomers look for rocky planets orbiting inside a star's Goldilocks zone, where it is neither too hot nor too cold for liquid water. NASA's Kepler-452b announcement in July 2015 was exactly this kind of news.
- ✗ (a) The zone is measured as a distance from a star, not a layer of the Earth's atmosphere. It has nothing to do with a habitable limit above the Earth's surface.
- ✗ (b) Shale gas lies in rock formations underground. It has no connection to the Goldilocks zone, which is an astronomical concept.
- ✗ (d) The term does not refer to meteorites or precious metals. It refers to conditions suitable for liquid water on a planet.
Remember · Goldilocks zone = habitable zone: the orbital distance from a star where liquid water can exist on a planet's surface. It is used when searching for Earth-like exoplanets.
📘 Read it in NCERT: Class 8 Curiosity, Ch 13 (practise this chapter)
Sources
- NCERT Class 8 · Curiosity, Chapter 13 “The range of distances from the Sun (or another star) over which water remains liquid is called the habitable zone, or sometimes also called the 'Goldilocks zone'”
- The Habitable Zone - NASA Science ↗ “Habitable zones are also known as “Goldilocks zones,” where conditions might be just right — not too hot, not too cold — for life.”
- NASA's Kepler Mission Discovers Bigger, Older Cousin to Earth (23 July 2015) ↗ “confirmed the first near-Earth-size planet orbiting in the habitable zone of a sun-like star. The habitable zone is the region around a star where temperatures are just right for water to exist in its liquid form.”
Question: UPSC Civil Services (Preliminary) 2015, General Studies paper. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 25 Oct 2026 (how we verify). ·