Have astronomers discovered another Earth?

European scientists searching for exoplanets say they have discovered the smallest and most Earth-like planet yet. Such a planet they say, may harbor life.

LOS ANGELES, CA (Catholic Online) - The rocky planet doesn't have a proper name and there's no way of telling if the planet really does harbor life--yet. The name of the planet is an uninspiring designation, HD85512-b, and it's located about 35 light years from Earth, That means it takes light from its parent star 35 years to reach astronomers on Earth. 

The planet is larger than Earth, about three-and-a-half times more massive. It happens to exist in the "goldilocks zone" of habitability, which astronomers say is neither too far from the parent star to freeze water nor too close to vaporize it. The liquid water conditions that may abound on the planet are considered essential for supporting life as we know it. 

The planet was discovered by Lisa Kaltenegger of the Max Planck Institute for Astronomy in Germany and the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics in Massachusetts. Kaltenegger is leading a team of astronomers on the "High Accuracy Radial Velocity Planetary Search (HARPS).  The group is one of several searching for planets around neighboring stars. 

Until recently, most of the 600 planets found orbiting stars have been massive gas giants, much like Jupiter, but typically larger and hotter. Astronomers detect the planets because they block minute amounts of light from their parent star when they pass between the star and Earth. These minute changes in the parent star's brightness can be measured with extreme accuracy using ground and space-based telescopes and are the basis of scientific observation. 

Future telescopes which are much more ambitious in size will soon be constructed. The European Extremely Large Telescope (E-ELT) will begin construction next year and should be able to assess the atmosphere of HD85512-b to determine if there is any evidence for life on the planet. Astronomers will evaluate light passing through the star's atmosphere to determine what compounds are present in the planet's air. Such analysis could prove that liquid water exists on the planet. 

While HD85512-b is an exciting discovery for astronomers, few people would likely be excited to visit. At 3.5 times the mass of the Earth visitors would weigh equally more on the planet's surface.
 
The discovery was announced Monday at a conference in Wyoming. 

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