New Earthlike planet discovered Gliese 581c

For the first time in history, an Earth-like planet has been discovered orbiting a distant star.

At only one and a half times the radius of Earth, Gliese 581 C is the third and smallest planet to be discovered orbiting a Red Dwarf star located 20.5 light years away in the constellation Libra and the first one to approach the Earth's size. The planet resides in the star's "Goldilocks Zone" where liquid water --and life could occur. The team of Swiss, French and Portuguese astronomers used the European Southern Observatory's 3.6 m telescope to make this incredible discovery. See the video for more! AstroShorts.com

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• gliese
• 581
• 581c
• exoplanet
• extrasolar
• planet