scientists have claimed two key discoveries in the search for other earth - like planets . british officials say they have discovered the smallest unknown earth - like exoplanet orbiting a living star called gliese 581 a and also know that a nearby planet called gliese 581 d , located in 2007 , is in the much sought after ' habitable zone ' . scholars also believe there is a possibility that 581 d could have solid oceans on its planet , calling the discoveries " miraculous . " " the holy eternal of past exoplanet research is the finding of a distant , heaven - type orbit in the ' orbits area ' , " stated biologist at switzerland ' s geneva university , peter mayor . observers say 581 e is 20 . 5 light years away from earth and that it ' s approx 1 . 9 twice brighter than earth , earning it the smallest orbiting located to date . it was studied using the extreme accuracy rotational velocity planet searcher ( harps ) .
Michel Mayor is the discoverer of the High Accuracy Radial Velocity Planet Searcher.