like planet in Libra?
May 2007 Late April found astronomers and exobiologists agog following press releases from the Geneva Observatory. Applying a new microlensing method with the European Southern Observatorys 3.6 metre telescope in the Chilean Andes, a team led by Stephane Udry of the University of Geneva has discovered the nearest yet to an Earth-like planet beyond the Solar System. The star (Gliese 581 in the constellation Libra) around which the new planet orbits is one the hundred closest to us, at 20.5 light years. A Nature paper in January by a different team had already reported the discovery of another planet just 5 times larger than the Earth. Named OGLE-2005-BLG-390Lb, it takes about 10 years to orbit its parent star, a red dwarf that lies close to the core of the Milky Way. However, it must receive so little energy from its parent that its surface is probably far too cold (about -220C) for the existence of liquid water and therefore life. The latest find is much more exciting for exobiologists
