70 Virginis b: A New Water Planet?.

The star 70 Virginis has a planet. This recent discovery is the second known case of a planet orbiting a normal star other than our Sun itself. The first case involved 51 Pegasi and was announced last year. The star 70 Vir , shown in the center of the above false-color picture, is very much like the Sun . The planet is not visible above - the unusual structure surrounding the star is caused by the telescope. The planet, designated 70 Vir b for short, was discovered by very slight periodic shifts in its colors. Defining characteristics of this planet include that it is at least eight times the mass of Jupiter , it's orbit is much smaller than Jupiter 's, and it's temperature allows water to exist in liquid form - like on the Earth . Life on Earth is based on liquid water - could life exist here too?