The European Southern Observatory announced today it has discovered 50 new exoplanets, including 16 super-Earths. A super-Earth is a rocky planet similar to Earth, only more massive. They are as close as current technology allows astronomers to get to finding truly Earth-like worlds, though that situation is rapidly changing.
One of those super-Earths is particularly interesting. At 3.6 times Earth's mass-- among the smallest exoplanets yet found-- this world could orbit within its parent star's habitable zone, which means it could potentially support life. The parent star is similar to our Sun and is only 35 light-years away.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment