National Geographic News, Reporting Your World Daily

Thursday, October 28, 2010

Photo: Earthlike Planet Spied in Distant Solar System


Email to a Friend	<< Back to Full Story

An artist's conception shows the newly discovered planet OGLE-2005-BLG-390Lb orbiting its red dwarf host star.

The Earthlike planet, located 20,000 light-years away from our own, is the smallest ever found in orbit around a so-called normal star outside our solar system.

The discovery raises the prospect that our galaxy is full of planets conducive to life, say astronomers behind the find.

Illustration courtesy European Southern Observatory