“Astronomers using NASA’s Spitzer Space Telescope have found a planet surprisingly similar to our Earth – in a galaxy near ours. The discovery has fascinated astronomers because most of the planets found outside our solar system have been ‘super-earths’ – planets larger than our solar system’s huge Jupiter. This planet, called UCF-1.01, is located a mere 33 light-years away, making it possibly the nearest world to our solar system that is smaller than our home planet. It’s also a mere 5,200 miles across. ‘We have found strong evidence for a very small, very hot and very near planet with the help of the Spitzer Space Telescope,’ said Kevin Stevenson from the University of Central Florida in Orlando. Stevenson is lead author of the paper, which has been accepted for publication in The Astrophysical Journal. ‘Identifying nearby small planets such as UCF-1.01 may one day lead to their characterization using future instruments.” w/ photos
