Posted: Wed, Nov 7, 2007, 7:33 AM ET (1233 GMT)
Astronomers announced Tuesday the discovery of a fifth planet orbiting a nearby Sun-like star, creating a solar system near as complex as our own. The new planet is 45 times the mass of the Earth and orbits in the star's "habitable zone", completing one orbit in 260 days. The planet is the fifth discovered orbiting the star 51 Cancri, 41 light-years from Earth. Unlike the other four, believed to be gas giants ranging in size from Neptune to four times that of Jupiter, this planet is likely a large rocky planet. Astronomers suggested that any sizable moons orbiting the new planet could be able to support the presence of liquid water on its surface and thus life. The overall planetary system demonstrates to astronomers that complex planetary systems like our own are not necessarily unusual in the universe.

Related Links:

•  ScienceNow article
•  SPACE.com article
•  Washington Post article
•  Houston Chronicle article
•  NASA/JPL press release