Discovered by the European Southern Observatory's La Silla facility in Chile using the radial velocity technique, 32 new exoplanets are being reported this week, according to the BBC. Key quote:
The discovery is exciting because it suggests that low-mass planets could be numerous in our galaxy.
'From [our] results, we know now that at least 40% of solar-type stars have low-mass planets. This is really important because it means that low-mass planets are everywhere, basically,' explained Stephane Udry from Geneva University, Switzerland.
'What's very interesting is that models are predicting them, and we are finding them; and furthermore the models are predicting even more lower-mass planets like the Earth.'
The report pushes the number of known exoplanets to over 400.
Wayne
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