A New Edition is Discovered

There has been a recent discovery of a possible terrestrial-type planet that is orbiting a star in the constellation of Leo. Found by Spanish and University College London (UCL) scientists it is thought to be around a distance of 30 light-years from Earth. It is estimated to have a mass that is five times that of our own planet. It is also believed that one full day on this new planet would be equivalent to three weeks on Earth.

Majority of the estimated 280 planets discovered are similar to Jupiter, in the sense that they are "gas giants", although some have masses that are below 10 times the mass of Earth. Planets that have masses of between 1-10 times the Earth are often referred to as "super-Earths". But in contrast, there are current models that predict that this new planet is a rocky type and has a radius some 50% larger than the Earth.

In the article there is a quote from Ignasi Ribas, who was the lead of the study from CSIC, saying:
"After final confirmation, the new exoplanet will be the smallest found to date. It is the first one to be identified from the perturbations exerted on another planet of the system. Because of this, the study opens a new path that should lead to the discovery of even smaller planets in the near future, with the goal of eventually finding worlds more and more similar to the Earth."