spacetoday.net: Another potentially habitable exoplanet discovered

Another potentially habitable exoplanet discovered

Posted: Fri, Feb 3, 2012, 6:58 AM ET (1158 GMT)
GJ 667Cc illustration (Carnegie Inst. of Sci.)

Astronomers announced Thursday the discovery of a "super-Earth" extrasolar planet in the habitable zone of its star. The planet, designated GJ 667Cc, is the second planet found orbiting the M-class red dwarf GJ 667C. The planet has an estimated mass of at least 4.5 times that of the Earth, with an orbital period of 28 days. The planet's surface temperature would be similar to the Earth's, and thus it could support liquid water on its surface. Astronomers discovered the planet in radial velocity data collected by the European Southern Observatory plus follow-up observations at the Keck and Magellan telescopes.