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Keyword: superearths

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  • Astronomers discover clutch of 'super-Earths'

    06/16/2008 10:57:17 AM PDT · by NormsRevenge · 45 replies · 645+ views
    AFP on Yahoo ^ | 6/16/08 | AFP
    NANTES, France (AFP) - European scientists on Monday said they had located five 'super-Earths', each of them between four and 30 times bigger than our planet, in a trio of distant solar systems. The discovery suggests that at least one third of stars similar to our own Sun host these difficult-to-detect celestial bodies, multiplying previous estimates by five. It also brings astronomers closer to finding planets outside our solar system, called exoplanets, that could potentially duplicate the conditions that gave rise to life on Earth. "In a year or two, it is likely that we will find habitable planets circling...