Smallest extrasolar planet found
Even though this information was had by researchers some months ago, the discovery of "a new planet five times the Earth's mass, about 25,000 light-years away in the Milky Way orbiting a red dwarf star" has only now been published in the science journal, Nature, and reported on the BBC [British Broadcasting Corporation. While it may be possible to detect earth-like conditions on far-off planets, we are no where near the capacity to detect any signs of life.
'An international team of astronomers has found the smallest Earth-like planet yet outside our Solar System.
The new planet has five times the Earth's mass and can be found about 25,000 light-years away in the Milky Way, orbiting a red dwarf star.
The discovery, reported in the journal Nature, was made using a method called microlensing, which can detect far-off planets with an Earth-like mass.
The planet's cold temperatures make the chance of finding life very unlikely.
The planet, which goes by the name OGLE-2005-BLG-390Lb, takes about 10 years to orbit its parent star, a red dwarf which is similar to the Sun but cooler and smaller.'