   | |  | | ![]()  | Article said: | The Dwarf Carried Other Worlds Too!
Astronomers have discovered the most Earth-like planet outside our Solar System to date, an exoplanet with a radius only 50% larger than the Earth and capable of having liquid water. Using the ESO 3.6-m telescope, a team of Swiss, French and Portuguese scientists discovered a super-Earth about 5 times the mass of the Earth that orbits a red dwarf, already known to harbour a Neptune-mass planet. The astronomers have also strong evidence for the presence of a third planet with a mass about 8 Earth masses. |
http://www.eso.org/outreach/press-rel/pr-2007/pr-22-07.html
http://www.badastronomy.com/bablog/2007/04/24/huge-news-first-possibly-earthlike-extrasolar-planet-found
Now, this doesn't mean it has life, but given the size and distance from the home star (A red dwarf, which is smaller and cooler than our sun), there is a possiblity of liquid water. Liquid water or not, this is a very interesting find and it brings us one step closer to finding life. | |  | |  |
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