LONDON (Reuters) -- A team of international astronomers said Friday they had discovered a new planet, possibly bigger than Jupiter, in a nearby so lar system. The yet-to-be-named planet orbits the star Epsilon Eridani, the closest star to Earth that has a circling planet.
"Detecting a planet orbiting Epsilon Eridani -- a star very similar to ou r own sun -- is like finding a planet in our own backyard," team leader W illiam Cochran said in a statement.
"Not only is this planet nearby, it lies 478 million kilometers (297 mill ion miles) from its central star -- roughly the distance from the sun to the asteroid belt in our own solar system," the astronomer at the Univers ity of Texas McDonald Observatory in Austin added.
The distance between the planet and its star opens up the possibility tha t there could be Earth-like planets closer to Epsilon Eridani -- in a zon e that Cochran said might be habitable. The team will announce the discov ery at the International Astronomical Union (IAU) General Assembly Monday when 2000 astronomers from 87 countries converge on the northern English city for the 11-day meeting.
They estimate that the new planet, one of several expected to be announce d during the assembly, is bigger than Jupiter, the largest planet in our solar system.
It is made up mostly of gas and its eccentric orbit lasts just under seve n years, about 60 percent as long as Jupiter's.
Astronomers consider stable orbits, like those of the Earth and other nea rby planets, an important factor in the development of life.
"The exciting thing about this discovery is that having a large planet or biting fairly far out from Epsilon Eridani means there could be room for Earth-like planets in a reasonably stable orbit closer to the star," Cochran explained.
The astronomers found the planet using data sets from four different tele scopes with three different measuring techniques.
Because Epsilon Eridani is so bright and one of the 10 nearest star syste m it is easily detectable, and can be seen with the naked eye.
"You can go outside at night, even in Austin, and point at it and say tha t star there has a planet around it," Cochran added.
The new planet is the 41st to be discovered outside our solar system rece ntly. Three others were found by the University of Texas University team in Austin.
The general assembly of the Paris-based IAU will feature 500 talks and presentations. The meeting is held every three years.