The depleting sources and the bleak future of the planet Earth has always made humankind to look for another substitute planet like Earth. The quest for the same inspired a team of European based astronomers to hunt for a similar planet and there continuos efforts were aptly rewarded when they discovered a new planet just outside our solar system, where the atmospheric conditions are quite similar to Earth. The team used the European Southern Observatory’s 3.6-m telescope to discover it.

The discovered planet’s area is 50 per cent more than that of Earth and if these astronomers are to be believed then this planet has strong possibility to have liquid water on its surface. In 13 days it completes an orbit around its star and it is 14 times nearer to its star. Gliese 581 is its host star, which is small, less luminous and colder when compared to our Sun. It is a kind of red dwarf star and such types of red dwarfs are quite common in our galaxy. Astronomers are also of the view that there are strong signs of presence of a third planet, which would have a mass, nearly eight times than that of the Earth in the system.

Experts say that red dwarfs are worthy for future exploration to look for the planet where conditions are conducive for the survival of life. As for now this newly discovered planet will be the centre to carry on further research work.

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Source: Yahoo News69063