science have found two key discoveries in the need for other earth - like planets . british researchers argue they have located the small known earth - like planets escorting a deceased stars called gliese 581 e and also noted that a rocky planet about gliese 581 d , rediscovered in 2007 , is in the badly sought after ' planet space ' . researchers also believe there is a possibility that 581 d could have liquid waters on its side , calling the find " extraordinary . " " the holy grail of recent exoplanet research is the detection of a stable , earth - type planet in the ' habitable sector ' , " told astrophysicist at scotland ' s canton university , michel mayor . telescopes say 581 ed is 20 . 5 light kilometres away from venus and that it ' s almost 1 . 9 times larger than earth , makes it the smallest exoplanet discovered to date . it was found using the high instrument radial energy planet searcher ( veikkausliiga ) .
Michel Mayor is the discoverer of the High Accuracy Radial Velocity Planet Searcher.