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More low-mass exoplanets are discovered

GENEVA, Switzerland, June 19 (UPI) -- European astronomers say they have found a triple system of so-called super-Earths while using the European Southern Observatory's La Silla telescope.

The astronomers said they used the High Accuracy Radial velocity Planet Searcher, or HARPS instrument, to find the planets orbiting star HD 40307. Moreover, looking at their entire sample studied with HARPS, the astronomers count a total of 45 candidate planets with a mass below 30 Earth masses and an orbital period shorter than 50 days. That, they said, implies one solar-like star out of three has such planets in orbit.

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"Does every single star harbor planets and, if yes, how many?"asked planet hunter Michel Mayor from the Geneva Observatory. "We may not yet know the answer but we are making huge progress toward it."

The new system of three super-Earths was discovered around a rather normal star, which is slightly less massive than the sun, the astronomers said. It's located 42 light-years away toward the southern Doradus and Pictor constellations.

The discovery was announced this week in Nantes, France, during an international astronomy conference. Two papers on the findings have been submitted to the journal Astronomy and Astrophysics.

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