Astronomers discover more than 50 new planets

PARIS — Astronomers on Tuesday unveiled a haul of more than 50 planets orbiting other stars, including a "super-Earth" which inhabits a zone where, providing conditions are right, water could exist in liquid form. It is the biggest single tally in the history of exoplanet hunting since the very first world beyond the Solar System was spotted in 1995, the European Southern Observatory (ESO) said in a press release. The planets were detected using a light analyser, or spectrograph, on a 3.6-metre (11.7-feet) telescope at La Silla Observatory in the ultra-dry conditions of Chile's Atacama desert. The findings were presented at a conference on Extreme Solar Systems in Moran, Wyoming, attended by 350 exoplanet specialists. Sixteen of the planets have been designated "super-Earths", a term meaning that they are exceptionally small for exoplanets that have been spotted so far. A super-Earth is between one and 10 times the mass of the Earth. It does not necessarily mean that the world is rocky -- as opposed to gassy -- or that the conditions for life exist. READ MORE