Astronomers find another nearby 'super-Earth'

SAN CRISTóBAL DE LA LAGUNA, Canary Islands, Nov. 16 (UPI) -- Scientists have found another nearby "super-Earth" -- the name given to rocky exoplanets several times the size of Earth.

The exoplanet was discovered orbiting GJ 536, a bright main-sequence star located 32 light-years from Earth. The planet's mass is the equivalent of 5.4 Earths.

Though the super-Earth, GJ 536 b, doesn't lie within its host star's habitable zone, its close proximity to the relatively cool red dwarf make the planet an interesting prospect for atmospheric analysis.

"It is also observable from both the northern and southern hemispheres, so that it is a very interesting for future high stability spectrographs and in particular for the possible detection of another rocky planet in the habitability zone of the star," researcher Jonay Isaí González, an astronomer at the Canary Islands Astrophysics Institute, explained in a news release.

Scientists expect future surveys of GJ 536 to reveal additional rocky exoplanets.

"So far the only planet we have found is GJ 536 b but we are continuing to monitor the star to see if we can find other companions," said astronomer Alejandro Suárez Mascareño. "Rocky planets are usually found in groups."

Astronomers are now preparing to study spectral changes in stellar radiation as it passes by the super-Earth -- changes that might offer insights into the exoplanet's atmosphere.

Researchers detailed their discovery of the super-Earth in a new paper published in the journal Astronomy & Astrophysics.