Canberra, June 16: Astronomers have discovered a batch of three “super-Earths” orbiting a nearby star, and two other solar systems with small planets as well, which suggests that Earth-like planets may be very common.
The discovery was made by Michel Mayor and colleagues from Switzerland’s Geneva Observatory, who used the High Accuracy Radial velocity Planet Searcher or HARPS, a telescope at La Silla observatory in Chile, to find the planets.
According to a report in The Australian, the trio of planets orbit a star slightly less massive than our Sun, 42 light-years away towards the southern Doradus and Pictor constellations.
The planets are bigger than Earth - one is 4.2 times the mass, one is 6.7 times and the third is 9.4 times.
Edinburgh, June 16 : Four souvenirs from the Battle of Waterloo in 1815 have been found at the famous Scottish historical novelist and poet Sir Walter Scott’s home at Abbotsford in Scotland.
Washington, June 16 : A scientist is adapting Indian and African road techniques to improve asphalt in various ways by developing cold mixtures that blend polymers or plastics with crude oil-derive
London, June 16 : The Egyptian government has called upon Titanic discoverer Robert Ballad to find the lost sarcophagus of Menkaure, one of Egypt’s greatest Pharaohs.
London, June 16 : Archaeologists have recovered a treasure trove of artifacts from a late 16th century shipwreck in the UK, which is being described as one of the most important maritime discoverie