Alan Boss commented during yesterday’s NPR Morning Edition on the topic of a radio story entitled, “Earth-Like Planet Discovered in Libra.” The planet in question has a mass about fives times that of Earth and orbits around red dwarf Gliese 581, about twenty light years away in the constellation Libra. Researchers believe that it could be the first known planet outside of our solar system to contain liquid water and perhaps life. Boss remarked, “This seems to be the first discovery of an Earth-like planet. It’s not exactly an Earth, but it’s close enough that I think it does deserve the title of perhaps the first Earth-like planet.”

The planet was discovered by Stephane Udry and colleagues at the Geneva Observatory; a paper detailing their findings has been submitted to Astronomy and Astrophysics. The planet orbits very close to Gliese 581, making its way around the star in only 13 days. However, since the star is a red dwarf it is much dimmer and cooler than our Sun. Scientists calculate that surface temperatures on the planet average about 32 to 104 ˚F. “We do not know what the composition of the planet is,” Boss commented, though scientists assume it is made of rock and metal like Earth. “We do not know how much water it may or may not have on it.” He continued to comment that with a space telescope specifically designed to look at faraway planets—such as Terrestrial Planet Finder, delayed by NASA due to budget problems—researchers would have the ability to gain much more information.