Galaxies Realm

Scientists spot nearby 'super-Earth'

Quote:Astronomers announced this week they found a water-rich and relatively nearby planet that's similar in size to Earth.

While the planet probably has too thick of an atmosphere and is too hot to support life similar to that found on Earth, the discovery is being heralded as a major breakthrough in humanity's search for life on other planets.

"The big excitement is that we have found a watery world orbiting a very nearby and very small star," said David Charbonneau, a Harvard professor of astronomy and lead author of an article on the discovery, which appeared this week in the journal Nature.

The planet, named GJ 1214b, is 2.7 times as large as Earth and orbits a star much smaller and less luminous than our sun. That's significant, Charbonneau said, because for many years, astronomers assumed that planets only would be found orbiting stars that are similar in size to the sun.

Cool news. I think we'll gonna find an Earth-size planet in the next decade now.

Really cool news, but I still gotta laugh at the name of GJ 1214b. I hope they change it if when we decide to invade the planet.

really cool too. better grab the swim trunks and go swimming there.

Wasn't this announced awhile ago? I seem to remember there was some other Earth-type planet found...

^That was COROT-7b, an extrasolar "super-Earth" discovered earlier this year. This apparently is the second.

Anyway, cool news. We're closing in on a Earth-type planet.