Three Super-Earths Orbit One Star

Three new super-Earths have been spotted around the same star in a remarkable new discovery by planet-hunters announced today.
The new worlds - all less than ten times the Earth's mass - are orbiting a star 42 light-years away in the constellation of Pictor, the painter's easel.
Most planets detected in alien solar systems have been so-called "hot Jupiters" because they are much more massive. The three new planets are 4.2, 6.7, and 9.4 times the mass of the Earth and orbit their parent sun in 4.3, 9.6, and 20.4 days, respectively.
The star, labelled HD 40307, is similar to the Sun but slightly smaller. It is only visible in the southern hemisphere and never rises above the UK's horizon. News of the discovery was broken today at an international conference of astronomers at Nantes, France.

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