HD 20794 d completes its orbit just shy of two Earth years, placing it well within reach of conditions that might harbor life.

UK researchers have confirmed the existence of a “super Earth” located 20 light-years away that could reveal the existence of extraterrestrial beings.

Astronomers who identified HD 20794 d say its proximity to its host star and orbital pattern suggest it could hold water.

Thirty years after the discovery of the first exoplanet, astronomers have detected more than 7,000 of them in our galaxy. But there are still billions more to be discovered. At the same time, exoplanetologists have begun to take an interest in their characteristics,

Found by Dr Michael Cretignier of the University of Oxford, the planet has a mass six times greater than Earth's and orbits in a "habitable zone" of a star similar to the sun.

Named HD 20794 D, the newly discovered exoplanet orbits a star similar to the Sun, and researchers believe it may be able to sustain liquid water, which is vital for life, as we know it, to exist. "Best of all,

The discovery of a planet that is just 20 light-years away has been said to be the closest Earth analogue that scientists have ever uncovered.

Earth” planet that may have conditions suitable for life. The planet is outside our solar system and has a mass six times greater than that of Earth. The discovery is of an exoplanet, this is any planet beyond our solar system,

It is believed that the planet, named HD 20794 d, is at just the right distance from its star to sustain water on its surface, but because this distance changes over the course of its elliptical rather than circular orbit it is too early to say whether it could host life.