Cap'n, We've Detected Another Class M Planet!

Described as "the most enticing property yet found outside our solar system is about 20 light-years away in the constellation Libra," the planet Gliese 581c maybe a good spot for an off-world destination to which we boldly go.

clipped from www.nytimes.com The planet, Gliese 581c, circles the star every 13 days at a distance of about seven million miles. According to models of planet formation developed by Dr. Sasselov and his colleagues, such a planet should be about half again as large as the Earth and composed of rock and water, what the astronomers now call a “super Earth.”