"Super-Earth" found in habitable zone of another star
Posted: Thu, Nov 8, 2012, 5:26 AM ET (1026 GMT)
Astronomers announced Wednesday the discovery of a "super-Earth" extrasolar planet within the habitable zone of a nearby star. Astronomers said the planet, one of six known to orbit the star HD 40307, has a mass at least seven times that of the Earth and orbits the star at a distance similar to the Earth's distance from the Sun. HD 40307 is a K-class star about 42 light-years from the Sun; astronomers found three exoplanets around it in 208, but updated techniques that improved the sensitivity of radial velocity observations allowed astronomers to detect three more, including the super-Earth.
Astronomers announced Wednesday the discovery of a "super-Earth" extrasolar planet within the habitable zone of a nearby star. Astronomers said the planet, one of six known to orbit the star HD 40307, has a mass at least seven times that of the Earth and orbits the star at a distance similar to the Earth's distance from the Sun. HD 40307 is a K-class star about 42 light-years from the Sun; astronomers found three exoplanets around it in 208, but updated techniques that improved the sensitivity of radial velocity observations allowed astronomers to detect three more, including the super-Earth.
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