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Super-Earth joins ranks in life-supporting zone

Large exoplanet lies just 42 light-years away

By Tanya Lewis

- More than 2 years ago

Astronomers on the prowl for potentially habitable planets have found a new candidate: a world seven times as massive as Earth in a nearby solar system.

SUPER-EARTH FOUND An artist’s impression of a planet (left) circling the star HD 40307 (right) conveys the possibility that liquid water exists on the planet’s surface.