Cool --- Water Bearing Planet Found

The AP is passing along a report that European scientists have found a planet that is within the liquid water zone of a red dwarf star. The system is about 20 light years away, and the place has the basic characteristics of either a bigger Earth or a massive ice ball.

The new planet is about five times heavier than Earth. Its discoverers aren't certain if it is rocky like Earth or if its a frozen ice ball with liquid water on the surface. If it is rocky like Earth, which is what the prevailing theory proposes, it has a diameter about 1 1/2 times bigger than our planet. If it is an iceball, as Mayor suggests, it would be even bigger.

Based on theory, 581 c should have an atmosphere, but what's in that atmosphere is still a mystery and if it's too thick that could make the planet's surface temperature too hot, Mayor said.

However, the research team believes the average temperature to be somewhere between 32 and 104 degrees and that set off celebrations among astronomers.

Our technology is way too primitive to send a probe in that direction, but sooner or later we'll start to find good targets to explore... and that is just wicked cool.