Simply.. Out of the World!

Well, if you are one of those who believe that are not the only ones in the world and other forms of life, on other planets, do exist then you have enough reason to rejoice. In an international effort, researchers from all over the world have detected a planet nearly 22,000 light years away from the earth with similar life supporting conditions. The planet, which, like the earth, is a part of the Milky way galaxy, is about five times the size of earth

The planet has been given the nondescript name "OGLE-2005-BLG-390". Though the scientists do believe that the planet cannot possibly support life, the discovery is being termed as groundbreaking as they believe that it has brought humans a lot closer to actually finding such an earth-like planet. The smallest and coolest planet ever to be detected outside of the solar system, it circles a red parent star, which is five times smaller than the Sun, in about 10 years. As the parent star, which is a dwarf star, is cool and within a large orbit, scientists believe that OGLE's surface is icy and too cold for liquid water at an estimated 220 degrees Centigrade below zero. Scientists also have reason to believe that like the earth, it has a thin atmosphere and a rocky surface buried deep under frozen oceans.

Dr Greenhill from the University of Tasmania's School of Mathematics and Physics, a researcher involved in the planet's discovery, said, "It's significant mainly because it's the first detection of a planet which is similar to the planets in our own solar system. Most of the so-called exoplanets, or extra solar planets have been very unusual planets, very hot, massive objects very close to their parent star. And this one is a cool rocky planet which is more like the planets in our solar system."

Sharing Dr Greenhill's enthusiasm and underlining the importance of the discovery, Uffe Grae Jorgensen, scientist, Bohr Institute in Copenhagen, Denmark, and a member of the team who detected the planet, said, "This planet is actually the first and only planet that has been discovered so far that is in agreement with the theories for how our solar system formed."

The planet was discovered using a technique called microlensing. Microlensing is a technique which involves monitoring a star as it passes in front of another star. Such a technique is the only feasible way to detect low mass planets similar to Earth, Venus and Mars.

Based on Albert Einstein's general theory of relativity, the technique uses a network of telescopes to watch for changes in light coming from distant stars. If another star passes between a distant star and a telescope on Earth, the gravity of the intervening star acts like a lens and magnifies the incoming light. Scientists explain that when a planet is circling the closer star, the planet's gravity can add its own signature to the light. They can also determine how large the planet is and how far it is from the star by the amount of magnification.

The planet takes its name after one such telescope, named OGLE, for Optical Gravitational Lensing Experiment.