I got at least two text messages today, from two different friends, about a new planet that astronomers have found. So as always when news comes in, I go ahead and search it on the internet. I am completely mesmerized about what I found in the news in regards to the universe.

European astronomers has found a planet that looks to be almost the same as Earth. They are calling it 581c and it orbits around the red dwarf star Gliese 581 (near the constellation Libra).

These are just some similarities the scientists found.

• It orbits a comfortable distance from its sun.
• It maintains a surface temperature somewhere between 32 and 104 degrees Fahrenheit.
• It could easily harbour surface water (warmth and water often equal life).

These are some unknown facts about this new planet.

• Just because the planet could have liquid water doesn’t mean it does.
• Does the planet have an atmosphere thin and wispy like Mars’s or suffocatingly dense like Venus’s.

Here’s the article by the New York Times and the news report by CNN. Definately check them out if you like reading about what’s really out in the universe.