Earth-like planet ‘discovered’

The new planet — a rocky world three times the size of Earth,lies in the star’s “Goldilocks zone” — the region in space where conditions are neither too hot or too cold for liquid water to form oceans,lakes and rivers.

“Our findings offer a very compelling case for a potentially habitable planet. The fact that we were able to detect this planet so quickly and so nearby tells us that planets like this must be really common,” Prof Steven Vogt,who led the team,was quoted by the media as saying.

The findings are based on 11 years of observations at the WM Keck Observatory in Hawaii.