New Planet May Harbor Life!

The First Earth-Like Habitable Exoplanet Has Been Discovered:

The discovery was made by a team of European scientists, including one astronomer, Michel Mayor, who was also on the team that discovered the first planet outside our solar system. This new planet, named Gliese 581 c, circles a star named Gliese 581 which is 20.5 light-years away in the direction of the constellation Libra.

New Planet May Be Like Earth:

The planet is a smaller and possibly rocky or watery world that lies just the right distance from its star to create a temperature of 0 to 40 degrees Celsius. This temperature, which translates to 32 to 104 degrees Fahrenheit, is right within the range of temperatures found on Earth and is needed for liquid water to form. Liquid water is seen as key for the creation and sustaining of life forms.

A Red Dwarf Planetary System:

Not much else about the planet would seem Earth-like to a casual observer. Gliese 581 c does not orbit a star like the sun but instead orbits a red dwarf. A red dwarf is a small, cool, and dim star. Because it has less solar output, the habitable zone for a planet would be closer to a red dwarf, and that is where Gliese 581 c was found, so close that it orbits its star in only 13 days. Red dwarfs, although hard to see because of their size and temperature, are actually the most common type of star in the galaxy. Of the 100 stars closest to Earth, 80 of them are red dwarfs ... and Gliese and its new-found planet are one of those 80.