What were the new planets that were discovered recently?
More than a decade after the first planets beyond our solar system were found, astronomers have discovered about 200 of these “extrasolar planets,” as they’re called. Using a common-sense definition of potentially habitable planets, coupled with extensive computer simulations, scientists have calculated how many potentially habitable planets might be detected around other stars by the SIM PlanetQuest mission. (“SIM” stands for Space Interferometry Mission.) The mission, scheduled for a launch in the next decade, will target planets with specific traits in common with Earth: a similar mass and an orbit in the “habitable zone,” not too close and not too far from its parent star. With this mass and location, it’s believed a planet could have liquid water on its surface and an atmosphere — conditions considered necessary for life to gain a foothold.
