A total of 16 planets have a larger size than on Earth. One of the outer solar planet is orbiting at the edge of the habitable zone, where conditions could support life and home to living things on Earth.
Learning to do with the nature of all the planets discovered by HARPS, scientists revealed 40 percent of the stars is similar to the sun. But at least there is a planet that has a lighter weight than Saturunus planet.
"The discovery of HARPS has exceeded all expectations, and includes a vast population of the planet that has a size larger than Earth and have the same type beberpa Neptune, all the planets in general, are similar to the Sun," said Michel Major, President of HARPS, University of Geneva, Switzerland.
"While this is better than the results show the speed in terms of discoveries of planets outside our solar system," he added.
Quoted by TG Daily, on Tuesday (09/13/2011), one of the planet that has a 3.6 times greater than the mass of the Earth called HD 85512 b. The planet is at the edge of the habitable zone around a star that is likely to have water and almost the same as Earth. To which can then be used as human habitation in the future.
"This is the lowest-mass planet discovered by radial velocity method, the planet is potentially located in the habitable zone of stars and is the second low-mass planets have been discovered by HARPS in the habitable zone," said Lisa Kaltenegger an expert on the habitability of extrasolar planets.
According to local authorities, astronomers believe they have discovered planets are more likely to live to around stars similar to our sun.
"In ten or twenty years, which should have a list of potentially habitable planets in the solar neighborhood. This is an important thing to do," he said.