New Planet is Found 9,000 Light Years Away

Scientists report discovering a new planet they call a super-Earth in a solar system about 9,000 light-years away from Earth.

The icy and rocky planet weighs 13 times as much as Earth and orbits a star that’s about half as big as our sun, National Geographic News reported.

The planet, named OGLE-2005-BLG-169Lb, was discovered in an area such as the one populated by our solar system’s gas giants, Jupiter and Saturn. But astronomers believe the newly discovered planet didn’t accumulate enough gas to grow to giant proportions.

We’ve never been able to see these failed Jupiter cores before, Andrew Gould, an astronomer at Ohio State University in Columbus who is leading the research, told NGN.

He suggests, however, super-Earths are rather common and that about 35 percent of all stars have them.

National Geographic News said the planet’s terrestrial nature prompted scientists to call it a super-Earth, but its distance from its star chills it to minus 330 degrees Fahrenheit, making it too cold for liquid water and, presumably, life.