Astronomers could be a step closer to finding life elsewhere in the universe after they discovered a potentially habitable planet outside our solar system.

Dubbed 581 c, a reference to the red dwarf it orbits (Gliese 581), the new planet is the right size to sustain life and may have water in liquid form.

"This could be very important," said NASA astrobiology expert Chris McKay, who was not part of the discovery team. "It doesn't mean there is life, but it means it's an Earth-like planet in terms of potential habitability."

The discovery of 581 c was made by a team of European astronomers using a special telescope located in La Silla, Chile. The results haven't been published yet but they've been sent to the journal Astronomy and Astrophysics.

Few details are available about the new planet, including what kind of atmosphere it has and whether its conditions would support life.

"It's a significant step on the way to finding possible life in the universe," said University of Geneva astronomer Michel Mayor, one of 11 scientists on the team that found the planet.

"It's a nice discovery. We still have a lot of questions."

What scientists can say is that 581 c is five times heavier than Earth, and could be rocky, like our planet, or a ball of ice with liquid water on the surface.

The team predicts that the average temperature on the planet is somewhere between 32 and 104 degrees Fahrenheit.

The planet can't be seen without a telescope, but is relatively close to Earth, galactically-speaking.  Gliese 581 is only 20.5 light years away.

Additional Resource:

The European Southern Observatory

http://www.eso.org